


For The Sake Of The Moon

by Rain446



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2018-12-27 17:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12086355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rain446/pseuds/Rain446
Summary: Prompto Argentum has lived a pretty lonely life, until one day she resolves to become friends with a narcoleptic Prince. Will their friendship fizzle out before it even begins or will it become the thing that saves them both?





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I've never written anything for this fandom before so I apologize in advance if the characters seem, well, out of character. I also have never played the game but I've watched the movie and Brotherhood, plus I have watched a few walkthroughs so I know the general story and how it ends.  
> That being said, I absolutely adore Prompto and his friendship with Noctis. For the purposes of this story however, I have changed Prompto into a girl. I just need it that way for plot purposes so his personality will reflect that a little. Don't worry though, he will remain the wonderful sunshine of the group that we all know and love.  
> This story will be about Prompto's relationship with Noctis and it will become romantic eventually.  
> Hope you guys enjoy it!

Prompto Argentum stared at herself in the mirror and tried to decide if she was happy with what she saw. She had strong runner’s legs thanks to her morning jog every day and the skirt of her school uniform accentuated them rather nicely. It was a big change from the pudgy stumps they used to be. Her stomach was decent, she still had a bit of work to do on that front, but a couple of abs were showing now and it proved all of her hard work was paying off. Eating a salad everyday was tough but definitely worth it, and the sit-ups were becoming easier and easier.

As for her arms…they were awesome! No more fat hung from them, they were all muscle baby!

She smiled as she took herself in. For once in her life she was happy with how she looked and all of the work she’d put into herself had given her some good habits, which she was planning on using for the rest of her life.

Reaching for her camera she snapped a quick photo and hug it up on the mirror next to a few others. It showcased the progression of her body from fat to fabulous. She lightly traced her finger over the first one she’d ever taken when she was eleven. It showed a little girl who hated her outward appearance and pretty much everything else about herself. That girl was depressed and lonely, without a friend in the world…

“Not anymore.” Prompto stated firmly. 

Today was the day all of that was going to change. The first step had been the outside, and now it was time for the inside.

Nodding to herself, Prompto grabbed her shirt from her bed and pulled it on before grabbing her backpack and heading for the door. She’d packed her lunch the night before so she could get to school early in order to meet the person she was hoping to befriend.

It may sound kind of weird to most, but Prompto had a specific boy that she was planning on talking to. She wasn’t some creepy stalker or anything, this certain boy had always just seemed kind of like her in a sense. He was always surrounded by people but she could see in his eyes how incredibly lonely he was. 

The people around him only cared about his status, not who he was as a person. Prompto didn’t have that problem, she was basically invisible, but she understood loneliness more than most. So, thanks to varying circumstances that included a dog, a letter, and a promise, Prompto was going to make friends with Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prince of Lucis.

If she was being honest with herself, she was absolutely terrified. Prince Noctis wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. In fact, he tended to ignore most people and she was worried that he’d do the same with her. But, over time, she’d come to realize that not trying something due to a fear of failure, was worse than failing in the first place.

Who knew, maybe the two of them would become best friends. 

She laughed slightly at her own optimistic attitude as she closed the door behind her. Thinking positive had apparently become one of the habits she’d picked up over the years. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Prompto started down the road toward the school and her future. ********************************************************************************************************************************************* 

“Oh man, oh man, oh man…” Prompto muttered as she watched the Prince being dropped off at the curb from behind a tree. Her anxiety was rearing its ugly head and her courage was dwindling now that he was actually in sight. If someone were to see her…she would definitely be sending off a stalker vibe. “I am so going to be arrested or something…”

Taking a deep breath she tried to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do. Not a big deal. Just going to walk up to a Prince and say hello. No…not a big deal at all…

“What the hell am I doing…?” She mumbled to herself as she watched him start heading for the front doors of the school. If he went inside she would half to wait another day because she had this whole thing planned out. The first greeting had to take place outside of the school so she could have a chance to escape if things went terribly, terribly wrong.

Just walk up to him and say, “Good morning, Prince Noctis! I’m Prompto, nice to meet you!”

That’s all she had to do…totally normal…

“Argh!” Prompto growled out as she abruptly forced herself to step out from behind her tree and start walking. One foot in front of the other. That’s all she needed to do. No more overthinking.

She eventually came up behind Prince Noctis, way too quickly in her opinion. Couldn’t he walk a little faster?

Moment of truth.

Pulling on every ounce of courage she could muster, Prompto took the plunge.

Reaching out, she clapped the Prince on the back in a friendly manner. “Good morning, Prince Noctis! I’m Prompto, nice to meet you!” She said happily as she danced around and came to a stop in front of him, sporting a big smile.

He looked taken aback for a moment, briefly looking her up and down, before a small smirk appeared on his face. “Have we met before?”

Oh shit…

Prompto nearly froze in panic and she could feel her smile falter slightly. He remembered?!

Back when she was ten, almost eleven, Prompto had briefly tried to befriend the Prince. It had ended in abject failure but it had also been the catalyst which started her on the road to better herself. She had really been hoping that the boy in front of her would have forgotten about that…so embarrassing. She was sure that back then the Citadel guards would have totally considered her a stalker…she remembered a lot of hiding…

“Hahaha…” Prompto tried to laugh it off as she ran a hand through her messy blond hair in an anxious gesture. This was totally not going how she wanted it to.

That was…until Prince Noctis slapped her on the back in the same way as he started walking past her.

Her blue eyes widened in shock and she really did freeze this time. She watched in disbelief as he flashed her a grin before continuing on toward the school.

It took her a moment to realize what had just happened, but when she did, a huge smile spread across her face again.

Prompto ran forward and fell into step beside the Prince. “Sooo, do you play King’s Knight?”

He glanced over at her with surprise written all over his face. “What?”

Prompto rolled her eyes. “King’s Knight? You know, the game?”

Prince Noctis sent a glare at her. “I know what it is. I’m just surprised that you do.”

“Why?” She asked.

“Well…” He looked slightly uncomfortable and Prompto started to worry that she’d said something to offend him or something. Way to go Prompto…first actual conversation with the guy and she’d already screwed it up.

“I just figured…cause you’re a girl…” His cheeks flushed slightly and Prompto couldn’t help but laugh.

“You thought that because I’m a girl, I wouldn’t play a video game?”

He glared again and turned away from her, walking a little faster now.

Prompto smiled even wider and ran to catch up to him again. “I’m not like most girls you know. I happen to love King’s Knight. It’s my favorite game.” She kept her gaze forward but she could feel his eyes on her. “I also happen to be a level 33 wizard.”

“Really?!” He asked, suddenly turning to her looking impressed.

Prompto nodded. “Yup. Although…now that I’m thinking about it…” She frowned slightly as she realized what that meant. “I might have too much time on my hands. I mean, who is able to level up that much in such a short amount of time…?” Wow. She really needed to get a hobby…or a job…or something. Spending so much time playing a game was definitely not healthy.

The sound of laughter broke her out of her musings. She looked at the Prince to see him clutching his sides in near hysterics. Her eyes widened in surprise. In all the years she’d been watching him (totally not in a stalker like way) Prompto had never seen him laugh before. It was definitely better than that cold, uncaring, look that he usually wore.

“What’s so funny?”

He snickered slightly, reigning himself in. “Just your face. You seemed really concerned.”

It was Prompto’s turn to laugh. “Hey! It really is concerning!”

The Prince snorted, shaking his head slightly in amusement. “Sure it is.”

“Well Mr. Smart Guy, you never did answer my question.” She asked as they continued walking.

“I play. I’m a level 44 warrior, so what does that say about me?”

“It says that, for a Prince, you’re pretty lazy.” Prompto’s eyes widened in shock at her own words. The hell did she just say?! Six! She was going to be hanged for treason or something!

The Prince just snorted again. “What can I say, I like to sleep.”

The utter relief she felt was staggering. Maybe she was gonna be okay after all? Thank the Six…

“Anyway, I can’t believe you reached level 44. That’s pretty awesome, Prince Noctis. We should play together sometime.” 

The Prince looked over at her for a long moment before he seemed to come to a decision. “Sure. And just call me Noctis, okay?”

There was something in the way he asked that that made Prompto pause. It almost felt like…some sort of test. What should she do? Did she break every single protocol she knew of when it came to royalty and call him by his first name? Or…did she play it safe? 

Prompto’s hesitation was brief. 

“Sounds good…Noctis.”

When he smiled back at her…she knew she had made the right decision.

************************************************************************************************************************************* 

“I can’t believe you’re so bad at math!” Prompto exclaimed in amused surprise. Noctis just glared over at her from across his desk where he was biting into a sandwich.

“I mean seriously, a fifty-six? That’s, like, barely a pass.”

“We can’t all be math guru’s…” He mumbled once he’d swallowed.

Prompto just shook her head. They’d had their first few classes together, one of them being math, and they’d gotten a test back. Prompto had aced it. Noctis…not so much. She had just figured that that would be one of the subjects that he would be best at. Math was important for Princely stuff…wasn’t it?

“Well…how about I help you? I do know a few tricks of the trade after all.” She said with a wink.

Noctis rolled his eyes. “I already have a tutor thanks.”

“He doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job.”

He barked out a laugh. “I wouldn’t tell him that if I were you.”

Prompto smiled. She’d managed to make him laugh a lot. It was a good feeling. Things seemed to be going pretty well between them. Better than she’d hoped in fact. It turned out that the two of them had a lot of things in common. Noctis was pretty much just like every other teenager, aside from the Prince thing, and Prompto found it very easy to talk to him. For the first time she felt like she could just be herself.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m probably going to fail history.”

Noctis raised an eyebrow. “History is one of my best subjects.”

“Hey, you suck at math and I suck at history. Everybody has a thing. Oh!” She yelled in excitement when she realized what that meant. Noctis jumped slightly but Prompto barely noticed. “We should totally be study buddies!”

The look Noctis gave her spoke volumes towards what he thought of that idea but Prompto pushed on.

“I’m serious! You said you’re good at history right? Well I’m drowning and I don’t have a tutor. You help me and I help you. It’s win, win!”

Noctis shook his head with a small smile. “Are you this enthusiastic about everything?”

“Yup.” Prompto said with a smile of her own.

Noctis sighed in resignation. “Alright. Study buddies it is. But I can’t get together today cause I have a stupid meeting I have to go to after school.”

“A meeting?”

“Yeah. I have to sit in on it so I can learn how to be diplomatic or something.”

Prompto couldn’t help but snort. “You could start by at least pretending you want to be there.”

Noctis just shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich.

She watched him silently for a few minutes before an idea came to her. “Hey, how about we exchange numbers? That way, if you get really bored, you can text me and I’ll regale you with humorous anecdotes.” 

Noctis continued chewing, silently contemplating, before taking out his phone. Inwardly Prompto jumped for joy. This friendship thing was a lot easier than she’d thought it was going to be. The two of them exchanged information and Prompto sent off a quick text just to make sure it worked.

Prompto: So who made your sandwich? Looks tasty :) 

Noctis looked down at his phone and laughed. “It was that tutor you said sucked at his job.”

“Hey! I didn’t say he sucked! And anyway, if he can make a sandwich that looks that good, it must be the student that’s the problem.” It took her a moment to realize what she’d just said but when it did, “I changed my mind. I don’t want to be study buddies. I feel like it would be too stressful with very little reward.”

Noctis glared at her again and took a huge bite of his sandwich before chewing on it aggressively.

Prompto just laughed and leaned back in her chair. She had swung it around to face Noctis’ because he was seated right behind her in their homeroom. As she leaned back she reached into her bag and stealthily pulled out her camera. Then, before Noctis could even register it was happening, she took the picture. It was of Noctis with an angry glare and a mouth stuffed with food. She looked down at it and burst out laughing. 

“Wow! You look hilarious!” She said in between giggles.

Looking back up at Noctis however, wiped the smirk right off her face. His dark eyes were cold again and the rest of his expression was unreadable.

“N-Noctis? W-what’s wrong?” What the hell had she done to piss him off? The picture was just a joke. She’d delete it if he wanted her to…

Without a word he pushed himself up out of his chair, grabbed his bag, and stormed out of the room. Prompto watched him go in shocked silence. What had just happened?

She could feel the eyes of every kid in the room on her and she just wanted to disappear. Trying to fight back the tears she could feel coming, Prompto looked back down at her camera. She deleted the photo without a moment’s hesitation.

So much for friendship and being herself…

*********************************************************************************************************************************** 

“Six…I’m so stupid…” Prompto mumbled to herself as she walked down the street toward her house. “Of course he wouldn’t want his picture taken. He probably gets hounded by people with cameras all the time…”

As the day had progressed Prompto didn’t see Noctis again and she figured that he’d left school early. She’d managed to upset him that much. It made her feel like crap. She’d wanted to make him smile…not upset him. He probably thought she was some freak that just buddied up to him to take his picture and now she was going to sell it to the media or something. She couldn’t believe how quickly she’d screwed everything up. They’d been friends for barely even four hours. It would definitely explain why she’d never had any before. That had to be some kind of record.

“So stupid…”

Maybe she could fix it though? Maybe she could just walk up to him the next day, explain how she’d deleted the picture, and apologize for taking it without his permission in the first place.

Or…maybe she should just leave him alone.

“Ugh…” She grumbled as she ran her hand through her hair in frustration.

“Hello Prompto dear! How was your first day of high school?”

Looking up, Prompto was surprised to see that she was already home and her neighbour, Mrs. Amata was waving at her.

Putting on a smile that she didn’t feel, Prompto waved back. “Hey Mrs. Amata, school was great. How was your day? Did you manage to finish all your gardening?”

The older woman laughed lightly. “Not quite dear. I ran into some nasty weeds and I have to wait for my son to take me into town to pick up something to get rid of them. Unfortunately that won’t be happening until Thursday.”

“Well, that sucks.” Prompto said with a frown. Mrs. Amata’s son was a total jerk. He was always keeping his mother waiting despite the fact that he didn’t even have a job and spent most of his time partying with his friends. He could spend five damn minutes to drive her into town to pick up some weed killer.

“I could pick some up for you tomorrow if you want. I have to go into town anyway to buy another memory card for my camera.” 

The older woman’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? You would do that for me?”

Prompto smiled genuinely this time. “Sure, it’s no problem. After everything you’ve done for me over the years, I’m glad I can help you out every once in a while.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful. Just let me run inside and grab some money for you.”

Prompto nodded and then watched as the woman went back into her house. Well, at least she was alright communicating with a sixty year old woman. It was just people her own age that she messed up with.

She sighed in annoyance at her pessimistic attitude. She’d thought she was doing better but it would appear that the old Prompto was showing her face again.

Sure she’d screwed up with Prince Noctis, but that didn’t mean she had to throw away all of her hard work. She would just have to pick herself up, dust herself off and try again.

Prompto would apologize to the Prince, tell him she deleted the picture, she owed him that much at least, and then if he wanted nothing to do with her after that, well, then she’d respect his wishes and move on.

Yeah.

…

Easier said than done.

She sighed again and looked down at her phone. Hesitating for a moment, Prompto then pulled up the Prince’s number in her contacts. Maybe she could sent him an apology through text? Kids her age did that all the time these days. She could apologize without ever having to even see him face to face. It was very tempting.

But…what if he already deleted her number. It wouldn’t be surprising.

She looked at the number for a long moment before ultimately deciding that that was the coward’s way out. She was going to face her mistake head on. Nodding to herself in resignation, Prompto put the phone away and waited for Mrs. Amata to return.

****************************************************************************************************************************************** 

“I’m home…” She mumbled to the silence of her home when she finally stepped inside after one of the longest days of her young life.

As usual there was no answer. Her parents were away on another extended work thing. It was pretty normal for them to be gone for weeks at a time. It was hard, she wasn’t going to lie, but she was used to it. Ever since she was able to look after herself, they had decided to go full force with their careers. 

Prompto knew her parents loved her though. When they were around it was amazing. They acted like an actual family and she cherished those moments more than anything.

Now wasn’t one of those times however. They’d been gone for two weeks already and planned on being away for at least another two more. But whatever, it was what it was.

Placing her bag on the dining room table, Prompto walked into the kitchen and pulled out a cup of noodles. She wasn’t in the mood to go healthy at the moment. She popped it in the microwave and then absentmindedly drummed her fingers on the counter while she waited.

“Now how am I going to do this…?” She asked herself. After what happened, Noctis probably wouldn’t even give her the time of day, let alone let her apologize.

Maybe she could corner him somewhere?

“Yeah. Cause that won’t get me shot by the Crownsguard…”

Prompto sighed before leaning down and placing her forehead onto the counter. All she wanted to do was go to bed and pretend this day never happened.

Beep Beep

Looking up, she glared over at the microwave before opening it and pulling out her meager supper. She walked over to the dining room table and dropped down into a chair. She ate in dejected silence and once again contemplated just sending a text.

Why couldn’t things ever be that easy?

The rest of the evening past in a quiet blur. Prompto finished her homework before plopping down onto the couch in order to watch a movie. Anything to distract her. Eventually she grew tired enough and headed to her bedroom. After she’d changed into her pajamas, Prompto walked over to her desk and opened one of the drawers. She pulled out a worn envelope and opened it, pulling out the letter that was inside.

She read Lady Lunafreya’s words again and couldn’t help but feel incredibly disappointed with herself.

Maybe the whole thing blew up in her face because she put too much pressure on herself. To work that hard toward something, only to have it taken away before it even began, was a crushing blow to say the least.

Maybe she just needed to relax a little. It wasn’t the end of the world. And…who knew? Maybe after she apologized, Prince Noctis would forgive her and they could try again.  
A small smile spread across her face.

She wasn’t a bad person. She wasn’t the type to hurt people on purpose and maybe the Prince would see that.

There was always hope.

As she climbed into bed that night Prompto fell asleep with a sense of hope and accomplishment. She had done what she’d started out to do, at least partially. Despite her fear she had actually talked to him and had actually been friendly with him…at least for a few hours, and that was more than she’d expected in the first place.

There was always a chance.

There was always hope.


	2. First Meetin: Take Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto tries again. Hopefully things go better this time.

To say that Prompto was even more nervous than the day before would have been one hell of an understatement. At least the day before, Noctis hadn’t hated her.

She was also really tired because sleep had been an elusive beast. Tossing and turning, going back over what she could have done differently. It had been rough going.

As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she was sad to see that she was even paler than usual, which made her freckles stand out even more. It was one thing she couldn’t change about herself. In the past she’d been teased over them but, despite that, she couldn’t quite bring herself to cover them up. They were something that made her unique. One thing that she did want to change though, at least a little, was her blond hair. It was looking a bit limp as it hung down a little past her ears and her annoying bangs just did not want to cooperate. That seemed to be happening more and more lately. She might have to invest in some hair gel in the near future.

All in all, her appearance matched her mood.

“Perk up Prompto!” She yelled at herself. “You can’t apologize looking like some kind of undead creature that crawled out of a cave in the mountains!”

She glared at herself, blue eyes blazing, until her stomach suddenly grumbled embarrassingly. A pink flush flooded her face and she couldn’t help laughing. She was being ridiculous. Blowing the whole thing out of proportion.

Shaking her head, she stepped away from the mirror and headed for the kitchen to get some much needed breakfast. Maybe some healthy food would give her the energy she sorely needed.

After making an omelet, Prompto sat down at the table and found herself just staring at it. She was extremely hungry, but for some reason she just suddenly didn’t really feel like eating it. Maybe it was nerves? It was a big day after all…again.

She sighed and poked the eggs briefly with her fork. They looked like some sort of yellow blob filled with chunks of different colored shrapnel. Almost like a chocobo exploded…

“Okay! That’s enough of that!” She yelled in disgust as she shoved the plate away from her. She did not need that visual at the moment…or ever.

She dumped the food in the trash, very aware that she was wasting a perfectly good meal and was going to hate herself for it later, before heading back to her room to get her bag.

Grabbing it off the bed, Prompto was about to head out when her gaze fell on her dresser…where her camera sat. When she’d woken up she’d decided that maybe it was best if she left it at home. Avoid the temptation. But now…that camera was her life. It was how she expressed who she was and how she saw the world. It was as much a part of her as her freckles and blond hair.

She felt empty without it.

If Prince Noctis didn’t accept that part of her then…he wasn’t worth it.

Decision made, Prompto scooped it up and immediately felt better. She smiled down at the small device before shoving it into her bag. She also grabbed the money Mrs. Amata gave her for the weed killer and her own money in order to buy the new memory card. Her old one was full and she hadn’t been able to go through them yet so she figured why not just get another one.

Once she had everything she made her way to the front door. 

Once she’d closed it behind her she started off toward school and operation: Talk to Prince Noctis: Take two.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

Prompto watched from behind the same tree as before as Noctis was dropped off at school. He had that same expressionless look on his face and it made her feel like crap. It was her fault he looked like that.

Well, she was going to fix it. To the best of her ability anyway.

She shifted her bag slightly, ignoring her sweaty palms, as she prepared herself for the coming confrontation. “Alright. Let’s do this.” She said, pumping her fist slightly in an effort to psych herself up a bit.

“Do what exactly?”

“Ahhhhhh!” Prompto screamed in surprise as a voice suddenly rang out from behind her. She spun around and came face to face with a tall, stern looking guy wearing glasses.

In the back of her mind, underneath the freak out, she thought he looked kind of familiar. In fact…he looked suspiciously like the guy who was always driving Noctis around.

Her face paled at least three shades at the realization. “Oh, six…”

He was staring at her with the most frightening expression she had ever seen in her life and she immediately felt the need to explain herself…or at least plead for mercy.

“Please don’t throw me in the dungeon! I was only going to apologize! Honest! I didn’t know he didn’t want his picture taken! I deleted it, I swear!” Her heart was racing and she felt like she was on the verge of having a panic attack.

“What the hell is going on?”

Her eyes widened in horror as Noctis appeared beside her and he looked very annoyed.

“Prompto?” He asked, eyes narrowed. This was just getting worse and worse.

Prompto felt like she was going to be sick. “Gods…I think I’m gonna be sick…” She mumbled as she leaned forward, placed her hands on her thighs and tried very hard to take a few deep breaths.

“What the hell did you do Specs?”

“I did not do anything. She was watching you from behind this tree and I merely tried to ascertain her intent.”

“Well, then why is she freaking out?”

“She mentioned something about apologizing for taking a photograph? Does that mean anything to you?”

“…”

The whole conversation was nothing but background noise to the ringing in her ears. There was a good possibility that she was going to pass out soon. Maybe she shouldn’t have skipped the omelet after all…

“Miss Argentum?”

The voice was close to her ear and it sounded like the guy with the glasses. She tried to focus on what he was saying but it was a losing battle. Darkness was starting to skirt the edges of her vision.

“Miss Argentum, you need to try and slow your breathing. If you do not, I am afraid that you will lose consciousness. Do you understand?”

Oh, she knew exactly what was happening, but the time for stopping it was long past.

“I don’t think she’s listening.”

The last thing she saw before the darkness consumed her…was the Prince of Lucis’ worried face.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Ughh…” Prompto groaned as awareness once again made itself known. She could feel that she was lying down on something soft and something was covering her, but that was the extent of her knowledge about where she was or what was happening.

“Hey? You finally awake?”

Her eyes shot open at the sound of a very familiar voice. Looking to the left, she saw Prince Noctis sitting in a chair looking at something on his phone. She briefly took in her surroundings and realized that she was most likely in the nurse’s office. The guy with the glasses was nowhere to be seen.

“P-Prince Noctis?”

He looked up and placed his phone in his pocket. The two of them stared at each other for a while before the Prince sighed in apparent annoyance. “You feelin okay?” He asked. 

Prompto was a bit surprised by the genuine concern in his voice. She thought he was angry with her? “I-I think so…what happened?”

He snorted in amusement. “You fainted is what happened. Thought you were gonna throw up but then you just dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. You’re lucky Iggy caught you or you’d have a bump the size of a Chocobo on your head.”

Iggy? Oh. She realized that that was probably the name of the guy with the glasses. She would have to thank him for that later…no matter how terrifying that prospect might seem.

“Oh!” She abruptly remembered that she still hadn’t apologized to Noctis. Without even thinking about it, Prompto pushed herself up into a sitting position. Bad idea. A wave of dizziness hit her, probably from sitting up so fast, and she began to sway. She probably would have face planted again if Noctis hadn’t reached out and grabbed her arm, steadying her.

“Whoa! Would you just relax! You’re seriously gonna give me a heart attack here.”

She could feel her face flush and tried to shove down her embarrassment. “S-sorry…” She mumbled awkwardly.

She heard Noctis sigh before he slowly released her arm once he was sure she was stable. He backed away slightly and sat back down in his chair, never taking his eyes off of her.

They stared at each other in silence for a while again and again it was Noctis who broke it. “So…why were you freaking out so bad? I mean, I get that Iggy can be intimidating sometimes, but I've never seen him make anybody pass out before.”

Prompto’s face flushed again. Gods, this was so embarrassing. “I…kinda thought he was going to throw me in the dungeon for stalking you…”

Noctis stared at her with a look of absolute disbelief on his face…before he burst out laughing.

At this point Prompto felt like her face was literally on fire. But, it was nice seeing him laugh again, even if it was at her expense. Maybe she really could salvage this thing.

“I’m sorry Noctis.”

His laughing cut off and he frowned over at her. “What?”

“I’m sorry I took that picture of you without your permission.” She looked down at her hands which were folded in her lap. “I take pictures. It’s kinda the only thing I’m good at, so when I see something that will be a great one…I usually just take it…without thinking about the consequences.” She frowned down at her hands when she realized that they were shaking slightly. The last thing she needed was to worry him further, especially if he was still mad. Looking back at him she noticed that he was still frowning.

“I deleted it…so you don’t have to worry about anyone else seeing it or anything…I-I’m really sorry.” She looked down again and clenched her still shaking hands into fists. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him again. She didn’t want to see that empty look anymore.

Silence descended on the room and Prompto didn’t know what else to say. She was at a complete loss as to why he wasn’t just leaving.

“I’m sorry to…”

Her eyes shot up and she was surprised to see Noctis rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything.”

He winced slightly. “Yeah. Yeah, I did. I…jumped to conclusions and didn’t wait around to hear anything you had to say. That was wrong and…I’m sorry.”

Prompto was absolutely shocked. Out of all the ways she figured this whole conversation would go, Noctis apologizing wasn’t even on the list. She still didn’t believe that he had any reason to do so, but it was nice seeing that he didn’t appear to be mad anymore.

Despite herself, Prompto couldn’t help but smile widely. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. “So…does that mean we can try to be friends again?” She asked, her excited hope was palpable.

It was Noctis’ turn to look surprised. “What?”

Her excitement dimmed slightly. Maybe he wasn’t up for it after their misunderstanding? “W-we don’t have to…if you don’t want to…” She mumbled as she looked back down at her hands.

She was a bit startled when Noctis suddenly jumped up from his chair and glared at her. “I didn’t say that.” He grumbled, looking annoyed again. “I was just surprised that you’d still want to. I mean…I was kind of a jerk.”

Prompto’s smile came back full force and she laughed lightly. “Well, I was a bit of a jerk to. So, friends?” She held her hand out and hoped to all the Gods that he would take it.

He stared at her for a brief moment before smiling softly…and taking her hand.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

“I can’t believe that you actually thought you’d be thrown in the dungeon.” Noctis said with a laugh as they walked down the hall toward their next class.

He’d waited with her until the nurse returned and announced that she was fine now and could head out. She hadn’t been in there very long and they’d only missed their first class.

“Well, excuse me. I don’t know what the punishment is for stalking a Prince.”

Noctis laughed again. “We don’t even have a dungeon…I don’t think.”

Prompto looked at him aghast, which of course, only caused him to laugh harder.

“You are such a jerk Noctis.”

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Anyway, I think the worst you would have gotten would’ve been a stern talking to from Ignis.”

“Ignis? Oh, the guy with the glasses? Where did he go anyway? I wanted to thank him for catching me.”

“Yeah, him. And I told him to take off. Didn’t need to have you see him when you woke up causing you to faint again.” He said with a smirk.

Prompto glared over at him. “I did not faint, I…passed out…” She trailed off after realizing that she didn’t have any defence to that accusation.

Noctis seemed to notice this and appeared to be trying very hard not to laugh again. Why did she want to be friends with him again?

“He was pretty scary though…” Prompto mumbled as she remembered that look on his face. The one that said, if you hurt Noctis I will make sure you suffer an eternity burning in Ifrit’s fire. She shuddered slightly at the thought of it.

Apparently losing the fight not to laugh, Noctis snickered beside her. “Oh yeah? Well, he also happens to be the tutor you thought sucked at his job.”

Prompto’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh, Gods…” She muttered as she looked over at him. He was grinning wickedly.

“Y-you didn’t tell him I said that…did you?”

He let her hang for a moment before letting the grin drop. “Don’t worry, I didn’t. Don’t need you having another panic attack and passing out on me.”

She glared over at him. “Okay, look, I do not just pass out all the time. I was just a bit…taken off guard is all…”

“Yeah. Getting caught stalking somebody would throw anyone for a loop.”

Prompto groaned and placed her face in her hands. “You are never going to let me live this down are you?”

“Nope.”

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

At lunch Noctis pulled out another delicious looking sandwich that had her mouth watering. She looked down at her own PB and J with distaste.

“So this Ignis guy, he cooks for you to?”

Noctis nodded around a big mouthful of food.

“Wow. He drives you around, tutors you, threatens your enemies, and cooks your food? That’s pretty amazing.”

Noctis just shrugged and Prompto rolled her eyes at him as she took a disappointing bite of her own sandwich.

The two of them ate in companionable silence for few minutes before Noctis finally stopped eating to take a breath. 

“So, were you serious about helping me study?” He suddenly asked.

Prompto nodded enthusiastically. “Only if you help me with history, remember? Study buddies.”

“Uh, yeah uh…study buddies…” He mumbled that last part and Prompto couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well,” He forced himself to sit up a bit straighter. “Could we maybe get together after school?”

Prompto was just about to say yes when she remembered that she had some errands to run. “I would love to but I kind of have some stuff to do. I have to head into town to pick up a few things.”

“Oh…well, how about after that then?”

He seemed very determined to study. That definitely didn’t sound like Noctis. Something was up. “Okay, fess up.”

“W-what do you mean?”

Prompto raised an eyebrow. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I’m pretty good at reading people. You seem the type that tries to escape menial tasks, which begs the question, why does Noctis want to study so bad?”

He glared at her for a moment before heaving a huge sigh. “I’m supposed to train with Gladio tonight and I would actually rather do anything but that so…”

“Training? What kind of training?”

“Combat training.” He said with a slight yawn.

“Really?! But that sounds awesome!”

Noctis rolled his eyes. “Not with Gladio it isn’t. The whole thing basically consists of him kicking my ass over and over and over. Tomorrow my bruises and going to have bruises.”

“Ouch. That does sound like it’s gonna suck…”

“Yeah. So?”

“I don’t know when I’m gonna get back though. I mean, I have to take the bus and they aren’t always reliable and sometimes the next pick up is, like, two hours after you need to leave and then you end up in the same one as this guy who doesn’t remember where his stop is and he makes the bus stop at, like, every stop and it’s, like, holy crap, just get the hell off the bus!”

Noctis was staring at her, mouth agape, when she finally finished. 

“What?” She asked in confusion.

“Wow.” He said, sounding slightly amazed.

Prompto was still confused. Had she said something strange?

“Uhhh…” Noctis closed his mouth and gave her a slightly strained smile. “Never mind.”

She was about to question him again when he decided to switch topics.

“We could give you a ride and then head over to your place to study afterward?”

Prompto’s eyes widened in a mixture of happiness and apprehension. On the one hand she would love to spend more time with Noctis and having a study party sounded awesome! But…on the other hand, getting a ride would mean spending a lot of time with Ignis…not exactly something she was sure she was ready for. There was also the fact that her house was kind of a mess at the moment and her parents weren’t even home. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted Noctis, or anyone really, to know how often she was left alone.

That actually gave her and idea on how to get out of this without jeopardizing things with Noctis.

She put a smile on her face and looked at him with apologetic eyes. “I don’t really think that’s the best idea. My parents are gone for a few days.”

Noctis just looked at her with incomprehension written all over his face. “So? Iggy can watch us.”

“Sooo, you want me, a fifteen year old girl, to invite two guys I barely know into my house where I am currently living alone?”

Noctis continued to stare at her blankly for a moment before realization flashed across his face. It was his turn to blush bright red. It was kind of cute.

“T-that’s not what I meant!” He stuttered out and Prompto couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hey! It’s not funny…” He grumbled in embarrassment.

Eventually she stopped laughing but the smile never left her face. “So, rain check on the study date?”

Still blushing, Noctis nodded as he glared down at the remains of his sandwich. 

Prompto may have found a new hobby. Teasing Noctis was pretty fun. Plus she’d managed to get out of studying at her house and spending a few hours with Mr. Grumpy Pants Ignis. She knew that hanging with Noctis would mean she would have to face her fears eventually but…today was not that day.

She took another bite of her sandwich as he pulled himself together. Once the blush had died down he finally looked back up at her.

“I hope you know that this means I am probably not going to be here tomorrow because I’m gonna be dead. He is literally going to kill me.”

Prompto snorted in amusement. “You are so overreacting. He can’t be that bad. I mean, you’re the Prince, he can’t literally kill you or he’d be pretty screwed.”

“You’d think that wouldn’t you, but I don’t think he gives a shit. The man has made it his mission in life to make me look like an idiot as he beats the crap out of me on a near daily basis.”

She was starting to feel a little bad now. Was this guy really that bad?

Seeming to read the worry on her face, Noctis shrugged. “Hey, I’m just kidding…mostly. He won’t really kill me at least.”

“You are not making me feel any better.” She muttered under her breath.

“What?” Noctis asked, not able to hear what she’d said.

“Nothing. Just…text me tonight alright? Let me know if you’re alive or not?”

Noctis laughed. “How am I supposed to do that if I’m dead?”

“I don’t’ know. Ghost write it or something.”

“Ghost write it? What the hell is that?” He said with a snort.

Prompto threw her hands up in exasperation. “I don’t know!”

They both burst out laughing after that and the rest of their lunch went by in a happy blur for Prompto. It was a big difference from the one the day before and she had a feeling that the next one was going to be even better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happy to see the first chapter was enjoyed. Feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you thought of this one :)


	3. A New Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto runs into a few people who are not to happy that she's buddying up to the Prince.

Prompto really wished that she was sitting in her empty, messy house studying with Noctis, while his…caretaker? (She was still trying to figure that relationship out) Ignis made them awesome sandwiches. She’d even take on that terrifying glare if it meant that she could get out of her current situation.

Not even twenty minutes ago she’d been sitting on the bus trading texts with her new friend. He was giving her the play by play on his abysmal training session with Gladio. How he was managing that while actually fighting the man was beyond her.

She was also pretty sure that most of the people on the bus thought she was insane because she remembered breaking out into laughter far more than was probably necessary.

Now though, Prompto was about to step into a hell of her own making…kind of. She didn’t really do anything to intentionally piss them off, but she definitely should have known that they wouldn’t take too kindly to her buddying up to the Prince.

Teenage girls. They could be very vindictive…and apparently crazy…and maybe a little homicidal…

“Hello Argentum.” Adriana Civilis said calmly as she and her two cronies, Carina Tremerus and Justina Amphion, cornered her in an alley outside the electronics store where she was buying her memory card.

She’d run into them as she’d been leaving and before she even knew what was happening, here she was.

The three of them were the stereotypical mean girls in school. Beautiful, popular, athletic, and Prompto had always done her best to avoid them. Being invisible helped a lot. But, they also happened to be Prince Noctis fan girls, which unfortunately meant that Prompto was now firmly in their crosshairs.

“H-hey girls…what’s up?” Ugh…she sounded like a scared little chocobo…

Adriana flipped her light brown hair over her shoulder and her green eyes narrowed in a glare. “We saw you with Prince Noctis today at lunch. The two of you seemed pretty close. Care to explain?”

Prompto felt her anger rise a little. It was none of their business what her relationship with Noctis was. That was solely between the two of them. 

Judging from the looks the other two girls were giving her however…they wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“He’s…my friend.” She eventually muttered.

The three of them looked at her incredulously for a moment before each one of them simultaneously broke out laughing.

Okay, sure, she probably wasn’t exactly the type a Prince would normally hang out with. She was a former fat kid who had self-esteem issues and used to be incredibly shy…who was actually _still_ pretty shy. She also wasn’t the prettiest girl in the room with her freckles and short, messy blond hair but…it wasn’t that funny…

Apparently it was though, because they didn’t seem to want to stop laughing. It went on for an eternity before they finally shut up. And they weren’t done insulting her yet either.

“You? Friends with Prince Noctis? I honestly didn’t think you could be funny. Guess I was wrong.” Adriana said haughtily as her clones continued to giggle behind her.

Prompto wanted to say something in her defence, but being in the presence of these girls…made her feel like she used to feel. Like she was nothing…like she was…worthless. A horrible weight settled in her stomach and she had to try really hard to keep the tears at bay. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

“Let me ask you something, _Prompto_ , do you really think that you are anywhere near good enough to even breath the same air as Prince Noctis?”

Prompto clenched her hands into fists at her sides and looked down at the ground. She couldn’t bring herself to look at them. “I…”

“Do you really think that you, a pathetic little worm that looks like she’s trying way too hard to not be pathetic, would even stand a chance with him?”

“I-I’m not…” Prompto started to bite her bottom lip. She could feel her nails digging into her palms and at this rate they were probably going to leave marks.

“What do you think is going to happen? That he’s going to fall all over you and you’re going to live happily ever after with him?”

“No!” Prompto suddenly yelled out, finally reaching her limit. That’s not what she was doing at all! She didn’t want…she didn’t think anything like that was going to happen! She just wanted to be his friend…

Adriana smiled wickedly, apparently pleased at getting a rise out of her. “So that’s it huh. You actually think he’s going to fall in love with you.”

“No…that’s…”

The brunette abruptly brought her hand up and cupped Prompto’s cheek, forcing them to lock eyes. Prompto completely froze, her own eyes wide. What the hell did Adriana think she was doing?! Not quite sure of the other girl’s intentions, Prompto was unable to move for fear of setting her off.

“No, of course not. You’re not that stupid, are you Prompto?” She asked in a sympathetic tone. “You know that you are so out of his league that you’re not even on the same planet, right?”

Adriana nodded as she spoke and for some reason Prompto found herself nodding right along with her.

“Good girl.” Adriana said happily as she gently patted Prompto’s cheek. It was almost friendly…

Until something changed. 

Her green eyes flashed with something that actually scared Prompto. There was something almost…unhinged about them.

“Now, I want you to listen to me _Argentum_. I am going to be watching you _very_ closely, and if I see anything I don’t like, you are going to regret it. Do you understand me?” Her voice oozed with threatening intent.

Prompto swallowed and found herself nodding again.

“Good.” Adriana said with a smile, taking a step back and lowering her hand. The look in her eyes vanished as if it hadn’t even been there in the first place. “I’m glad we understand each other.”

Abruptly turning away from the frightened blond, Adriana looked to her friends where they were still standing behind her glaring daggers at Prompto. “Let’s go girls. We’ve wasted enough time with this filth and we have to get to our movie.”

Without another word the three girls walked purposefully out of the alley leaving a shaking Prompto in their wake.

She stood there in disbelief before her legs suddenly gave out and she sank to the ground. She sat there for a few minutes, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened, before the tears she’d been holding in started making the long trek down her cheeks. She sniffled slightly and angrily rubbed at her eyes. How could she let them get to her like that?

They were just…just…

She took in a shaky breath and closed her eyes. “Just calm down…” She muttered to herself. “They’re just teenage girls, they can’t do anything to you. You can’t let them freak you out.”

Too late for that…

Prompto sighed and rubbed both of her hands down her face. She was better than this. She was not going to let a couple of girls scare her away from her new friendship. She’d worked so hard to get to where she was and they were not going to set her back.

She jumped slightly when her pocket suddenly started vibrating. Eventually realizing what it was, she took a long, calming breath, and pulled her phone out. She smiled tentatively when she saw that it was another text from Noctis.

_Noctis: Gladio just tripped over his own sword lol I’m sending u a pic_

A second later another message came through.

The photo was of a huge, muscular guy with black hair and tattoos, who was glaring angrily at the camera. He also had his mouth open as if he was yelling something and there was a large sword lying on the ground at his feet.

Prompto let out a shaky laugh. Now that guy looked intimidating. Teenage girls…they were nothing.

That look in Adriana’s eyes flashed through her mind but she shoved it away. She wasn’t going to dwell on it.

_Prompto: how the hell did u manage that one lol_

She sent off the text and leaned her back against the wall behind her. She just really wanted to go home but she still had to pick up Mrs. Amata’s weed killer. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

_Noctis: like to take full credit but cant. two guys got into it and distracted him, I got behind him when he was yelling at them lol_

Prompto actually laughed for the first time since her confrontation with the girls. 

Yup. She definitely didn’t regret becoming friends with him, and she had a feeling that she never would. It didn’t matter who threatened her.

_Prompto: cheater_

She pushed herself to her feet and shoved her phone into her pocket. Enough wallowing. She had stuff to do and she wasn’t going to let what happened get her down any longer. Besides, if Noctis didn’t want to be friends with her, he wouldn’t be. He had every opportunity to break things off with her, especially after the photo incident, but he still texted her and seemed to enjoy their conversations so…

“Yup. Not gonna let it bother me.” She smiled again and slowly made her way out of the alley and back onto the street.

There was no sign of the girls and, despite what she’d just told herself, she sighed in relief. Running into them again, so soon after the confrontation, was something she definitely wanted to avoid at all costs.

Shoving her hands in her pockets, Prompto started off down the sidewalk. The hardware store wasn’t far and then she could finally head home.

When her pocket vibrated again she pulled her phone out and looked down at the screen.

_Noctis: all’s fair in love and not getting ur ass kicked ;)_

She burst out laughing and nearly dropped the phone. 

Nope. She didn’t regret it at all.

**********************************************************************************************************************************

Two hours later Prompto finally made it back home. She had thought the day before was long, but this one was just never ending.

She dropped onto her couch and her body just sank into the cushions. “Ahhhhh…” She sighed in relief.

After dropping off the weed killer with Mrs. Amata, she’d practically ran the rest of the way, happy to be done with everything.

Done with everything outside that is, not inside. She still had to do her homework, make dinner, and she had to do some cleaning. She hadn’t been keeping up with it like she should due to the stress of meeting Noctis. But now that that was out of the way she had no more excuses. Plus, if she ever wanted Noctis to be able to come over for a visit, it would be better if he didn’t think she was a total slob.

She put all that on the backburner for the moment though and pulled both her camera and the new memory card out of her bag. Then she set about switching the old with the new.

As Prompto went about the mundane task, Adriana’s words from earlier invaded her mind.

_“So that’s it huh. You actually think he’s going to fall in love with you.”_

Prompto scoffed at the idea. “Yeah right.” She mumbled as she slid the new card into place.

She wasn’t stupid or naïve enough to believe that a Prince of all people would fall in love with her. That was never her intent when she approached Noctis in the first place. In fact, the thought never even crossed her mind.

All she wanted was for that sad look on his face, the same one on her own, to go away. 

She was just…Prompto. A pleb who was living her life the best way she knew how. That’s all. She had no great aspirations of being queen one day, unlike Adriana and her followers, and all she really wanted in life was to be happy, and maybe one day become a world famous photographer.

She laughed wryly at the thought. “Gotta edit these first.” She said as she held the old memory card in the palm of her hand. This one was full of mainly landscapes, with a few animal pics thrown in. She’d done a lot of wandering around Insomnia in the past few months, finding cool new places and taking epic shots. Now all she had to do was go through them and weed out the bad from the good.

“But, that’s gonna have to wait.” She said with a sigh. First she had chores to do. Then came the fun.

So, deciding now was as good a time as any, Prompto peeled herself up off the couch and got to work.

**********************************************************************************************************************************

She finished her homework in record time, aside from the dreaded history assignment which took an entire hour, and then she headed into the kitchen. She decided on a healthy soup and salad combo because the past two days had been mainly junk. Once she’d seated herself at the table she took out her camera and took a quick shot of the meal before sending it to Noctis. Then she dug in. A few minutes later she got a response.

_Noctis: y did u send me a pic of a salad?_

She nearly snorted out her soup. With a smile she texted back.

_Prompto: because it looks awesome! look at all the delicious veggys!_

_Noctis: i hate vegetables even more than math, and i really hate math_

Prompto shook her head. How could he hate vegetables? They were so healthy and awesome! Then she remembered the sandwich that Noctis had been eating earlier. Now that she thought about it, it was just meat…and maybe some cheese?

_Prompto: dude, when u nearly ate an exploded chocobo, veggys are next level awesome_

_Noctis: …?_

_Prompto: don’t ask_

Still laughing slightly, Prompto put her phone down and scooped up another spoonful of soup. She scarfed it down and then devoured the salad. She honestly hadn’t realized how hungry she was. But then again, she hadn’t exactly eaten breakfast.

Once done, and feeling immensely satisfied, she stretched her arms out above her head and stared down at the table. Maybe the dishes could wait?

“Ugh…” She grumbled to herself when she realized that she was really not going to want to do them later. She sighed in resignation and brought them into the kitchen.

Once that was done, Prompto set about cleaning up the rest of the place. She gathered up the garbage’s and brought them outside and then threw in a load of laundry. After that she ran the vacuum. By the time she was done everything and the house was clean, it was dark outside and she was so ready to call it a night. She wandered into her room and practically collapsed onto the bed. Rolling over she lay on her back and stared up at the ceiling.

Sure it had been an incredibly long day, but it had also been productive. It had been a day of immense personal growth. Despite that though, she was glad it was over.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she got another text. So much activity on the phone was still new. Hopefully she’d get used to that eventually.

Looking down at the screen, her eyes widened in shock when she saw a picture of the most delicious looking cake she had ever seen in her life. There was chocolate and fruit and…holy crap, was it also oozing chocolate?!

_Prompto: !!!!!!!!_

She couldn’t even form words for how awesome it looked.

_Noctis: this is what u miss out on when u skip study time and make me fulfill my obligations ;)_

Skip study time?! How dare he?!

_Prompto: ohh u asked for it! we are studying together every single free moment u have from now on!_

_Noctis: what?! that’s not what i meant!_

Prompto chuckled darkly, despite the fact that Noctis couldn’t hear it. Maybe it was time for him to understand a little more about her.

_Prompto: one thing u should know about me Noctis…i don’t mess around when it comes to cake_

There was no response so she figured that she’d made her point. It was also nice to know that he was still alive after the harsh training he’d had to go through. Didn’t let him off the hook though.

She was just about to drift off to sleep when Noctis decided to send one more message.

_Noctis: u can be as scary as Ignis. i’ll bring u a piece tomorrow_

Prompto fell asleep that night with a huge smile on her face, all thoughts of Adriana Civilis and her threats gone from her mind, and her dreams were filled with adorable chocobo’s dancing around glorious pieces of chocolate cake.


	4. Cake, Plans, and...Accidents?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto tries to make the best of her new situation, with various results.

“I think this is the most delicious thing that I’ve ever tasted. In my life.” Prompto stated dreamily as she bit into another piece of the cake Noctis had brought for her. It was his way of getting her to drop the threat of studying. It was totally working.

“That so?” He asked distractedly while he gazed out the window.

“Yup. What’s it called anyway?”

He turned to her with a small smile on his face. “Ignis called it a lava cake or something.”

“Lava cake hmmm…” She looked down at the deliciously oozing chocolate. “I can see that.”

Noctis laughed before looking back out the window.

Prompto watched him as she continued eating. He seemed really distracted by something. Wanting to know what it was he was looking at, she put her fork down and got up out of her seat. She inconspicuously walked around his desk and placed her face right beside his and looked out the window.

“What you lookin at?” She asked nonchalantly.

It was a testament to how distracted he was that Noctis hadn’t heard her move and jumped nearly a foot in the air in surprise at the sound of her voice in his ear.

“The hell Prompto?!” He yelled as he glared over at her. 

She smiled mischievously. “Just curious as to what it is that has you so distracted. See a pretty girl out there or something?”

Noctis flushed slightly and gave her an odd look. “No.” He muttered under his breath. “Not out there…”

Prompto looked at him quizzically, not quite able to hear what he’d said. “Was that a no?”

He glared at her again before sighing. “No, I wasn’t looking at a girl okay.”

“Well, then what were you looking at? All I see is the front gate.”

He sighed again. “I wasn’t…really looking at anything…”

Prompto thought about that for a minute before realization washed over her. “Ohhh…I see. It was more of a, _this_ , distraction.” She said, pointing at his head.

He frowned at her. “ _This_?”

“Your mind, oh Princely one. Something is on your _mind_. Care to share?” She asked, genuinely willing to listen if he was troubled by something. It was something friends did after all. He gave her another odd look before sighing for a third time.

“Wow. This must be something big if it has you sighing so much.”

He just shrugged. “It’s not that big a deal, really. I just…I’m trying to think of a way to get my dad to let me get my own apartment.” He finally blurted out.

Prompto’s eyes widened in surprise as she dropped back down into her seat facing his desk. “Wow. Your own apartment huh.” She brought her arm up so that her elbow was resting on the desk before placing her cheek in her palm and leaning into it slightly.

She had to admit, that did sound pretty awesome, but Noctis was only fifteen. Was that really old enough to live on his own? And was it really safe for him to live on his own? He was a Prince after all.

He silently stared at her from across the desk, waiting for her reaction. “Well?” He asked, somewhat irritably.

Prompto chuckled slightly into her hand. “Well…I think that sounds awesome!” She nearly yelled as she sat up straighter and gave him a wide, excited smile. “Think of all the studying we could do!” It wasn’t her job to worry about all of that stuff. Besides, as a Prince, Prompto figured that Noctis deserved a little bit of freedom.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head and his mouth dropped open in disbelief at her mention of studying.

Prompto started cracking up. “I’m just kidding!” She said while trying to catch her breath.

“That was not funny.” He mumbled in annoyance.

Prompto merely smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Well, what we gotta think about now is how to go about doing this.”

“Wait. You mean…you’ll help?” Noctis asked hesitantly. She could hear the hope in his voice.

“Of course I will! That’s what friends do.”

Noctis smiled at her.

Prompto smiled back before turning her thoughts to how they were going to make this happen. “Okay, warning you now, this is probably going to consist of multiple phases.”

“Phases?”

“Yes, phases! You can’t have a sweet plan without phases. Okay, hmmm…” She drifted off into thought while absentmindedly taking another bite of cake. She could feel Noctis watching her in amusement but ignored him for the time being. How could they get his dad to let him live away from the citadel…

Living on your own required responsibility, so that was something they would have to work on. She cast a calculating gaze over to Noctis. He was still watching her, amusement flashing in his eyes, but he also looked like he was two seconds away from falling asleep. Yup. They would definitely have to work on responsibility.

It also required a bit of knowhow. Prompto remembered a time when the sink in her house practically exploded and her parents weren’t home. It had been her responsibility to get it fixed. It had taken a lot of online searches and she’d spent a lot of time completely soaked, but in the end, she’d gotten the job done.

She looked back at Noctis. “Do you know anything about home repair?”

He blinked at her in confusion. “Home repair? Why the hell would I need to know that? I’ve got Ignis.”

Prompto pursed her lips and frowned. This was going to be harder than she thought.

“Okay!” She said, clapping her hands together and forcing a smile on her face. “I have a plan. Well,” She considered her words. “I have…part of a plan.”

Noctis raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, I don’t see you coming up with any ideas.” She grumbled.

Noctis laughed and leaned forward on his desk. “Okay then, Prompto the great and wonderful planner, regale me with your scheme to get my father to let me live on my own.”

Prompto steepled her fingers and gave him a devious smirk. “Alright then. Prepare to be wowed.”

********************************************************************************************************************

“You know, this plan of yours sounds like something Ignis would try and make me do.” Noctis muttered tiredly as he walked her to her next class.

Prompto didn’t know whether or not she should take that as a compliment or an insult. Thinking about all of the things Ignis could do…she took it as a compliment.

“Well, thank you Noctis. As a female member of our species, I’m always up for a compliment.” She answered back with a smirk.

Noctis just rolled his eyes.

Prompto pat him consolingly on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. Once this works and you have your own place, then you can slack off as much as you want.”

Noctis seemed to consider this for a moment before smiling. “I like the way you think.”

Prompto laughed and adjusted the strap of her bag as it slid down her shoulder. “I’m glad you approve.”

They fell into a comfortable silence as they walked and Prompto reflected on how nice it was, just hanging out with a friend. Even silence was nicer when you had someone to share it with.

Eventually they reached the door to her classroom. This was one of three that they didn’t share but it didn’t bother her. They would meet up again in gym class for their last period.

“Later.” Noctis said with a slight smile and a wave before heading off further down the hallway. Prompto watched him go with a smile of her own before walking happily into the classroom. This was her favorite class of the day. Photography.

When she’d first found out that the school actually had a class where she could study her passion, she was the first to sign up. If she wanted to get into a photography career she needed to learn everything she could about the craft. Right now they were looking into the different filters that could be used and she was ecstatic about it. As soon as she saved up enough money to do so, she was planning on buying as many of them as she could.

Plopping down into her seat in the front row, Prompto eagerly awaited the arrival of their teacher so the learning could begin.

_Thwack_

Something abruptly hit her in the back of the head. Whipping around, Prompto noticed a piece of paper lying on the ground by her chair. She briefly looked around the room but no one seemed to be paying any attention to her. Shrugging slightly, she bent down and picked it up. It looked like something was written on it. She carefully unfolded the page and her eyes widened in shock at what was on it.

_Hey filth, looks like the Prince has taken a real liking to you huh. Watch your back bitch._

She tore her gaze away from the hurtful words and looked around the room again. That was when she spotted Justina Amphion, one of Adriana’s cronies, sitting in the back of the classroom glaring at her. Prompto had completely forgotten that the girl was even in the class.

Turning back to the note, Prompto crumpled it up into a ball and shoved it into her bag. She’d throw it out later. Out of sight, out of mind…right?

She let out a sigh and dropped her forehead onto her desk. It looked like this problem with the other girls was not going to just go away. Why couldn’t things ever be easy? 

“Attention class! Everybody quiet down!”

Prompto lifted her head as the teacher started yelling at everyone. There was nothing that she could do about the girls or the note at the moment so she was just going to try to enjoy her favorite class and worry about the problem later. She knew that that was a bad habit to get into, but she was already tired of the drama.

“Okay. Finally. Now, all of you take out your cameras and prepare to be amazed.”

Prompto whipped out her camera and tried to focus. This was the fun part of her day so she was not going to let anything ruin it.

******************************************************************************************************************

The rest of the day passed in relative ease. No more threats or glares and Prompto was beginning to think that she was going to make it until the end of the day being stress free. 

Until gym class rolled around.

She walked into the gym after changing into her uniform and saw Noctis standing on the other side of the room. He noticed her and gave a half assed wave in acknowledgement. She smiled at him and then started heading over. 

She made it half way before a ball suddenly flew out of nowhere, smacking her harshly in the side of the head. 

The force of it knocked her sideways and she crashed to the ground in a heap, her head colliding with the floor hard enough to cause her to black out for a second.

All around her she heard people talking and yelling, there were hands all over her and she had no idea what was going on. It was a whirlwind of sound and movement and it made her feel nauseous.

“Prompto? Can you hear me?”

That voice she knew.

“N-Noctis?” She whispered as she tried to get her eyes to open. Everything was blurry and her head felt like it was being bashed in with a hammer.

“It’s gonna be okay Prompto. I’m going to get you to the nurse okay?”

She tried to nod or say something in affirmation but the pain was too intense. Seeming to understand, Noctis didn’t say anything else and a few seconds later she felt herself being lifted off of the ground.

Normally she would have protested, but with her head the way it was, she could barely focus on anything for very long.

“Just hold on Prom.”

Her eyes started drifting closed and her head tilted so that it was laying against his chest. She could even hear his heartbeat. It was really soothing…

The last thing Prompto remembered was Noctis’ strong arms holding her up and the calm beating of his heart.

************************************************************************************************************************

“Miss Argentum? Can you hear me?”

Prompto groaned slightly as she found her way back to consciousness. Her head no longer hurt, which was good, but she still felt kind of disoriented. 

“Are you finally awake, Miss Argentum?”

She lifted her hand up in an attempt to cradle her head but only ended up smacking herself in the face. “Oww…” She groaned.

Somebody started laughing which was kind of annoying. She reluctantly pried her eyes open and was a bit surprised by how close the nurse was.

“Whoa! Personal space!”

The woman glared down at her before pulling away. “Well, you seem to be feeling better.”

Prompto frowned. Feeling better? Then she remembered that she been blindsided by a ball in gym class.

“Ugh…didn’t know balls could hurt so much…” She mumbled. The laughter started up again and Prompto looked to the side to tell whoever it was to shut up, only to realize that it was Noctis. She was about to say something to him when the nurse suddenly moved into her field of vision again.

“Miss Argentum, you’ve been in my office twice now in as many days. I would hope that you are not planning on making a habit of this.”

Prompto flushed red in embarrassment. Noctis probably thought that she was a total spaz by now. Passing out and getting hit by balls. Hell, even _she_ thought she was a spaz.

“N-no ma’am.”

The woman nodded sternly. “Alright then. Well, I gave you a potion which should help with the pain, but I would suggest taking it easy. You will probably still be a little dizzy for a while. Do you have anyone that could take you home?”

Prompto lay back and stared up at the ceiling. Her parents weren’t home so she was probably going to have to take the bus. That was going to be fun. With her luck she’d collapse on the sidewalk or something.

“I can take her.” Noctis said.

Prompto peered around the nurse to look over at him again in surprise and she immediately felt guilty. Ever since meeting him she’d been nothing but trouble. She couldn’t ask him to keep looking after her.

“No, that’s okay Noctis. I can take the bus, it’s-“

“I said I’ll take you.” He interrupted with a glare. She didn’t really know what to say to that. Judging by the look on his face, he was not going to take no for an answer. That seemed to be happening a lot lately.

“Okay…” She said quietly. Noctis’ eyes softened and he looked immensely satisfied.

“Well, now that that’s settled, you can feel free to leave whenever you’re up to it. Just remember to take it easy. You should be feeling back to normal by tomorrow, but if not, please come and see me or go to your regular doctor. Is that understood?”

“Yes ma’am.”

The woman nodded, apparently satisfied, before walking out of the room.

Silence settled over them and it was a bit tenser than last time. On Prompto’s side at least. She just could not stop feeling guilty. She was taking up way to much of Noctis’ time. It was like she was some annoying charity case or something.

“Hey.”

Prompto startled in surprise. She hadn’t even heard him move. “W-what is it?” She asked apprehensively, turning her gaze back up to the ceiling again.

“Stop thinking stupid things.”

Prompto looked back at him so fast that she nearly gave herself whiplash. “What?”

He was frowning at her with his arms crossed. “I said to stop thinking stupid things.”

It was her turn to glare. “I am not thinking stupid things. And how would you know even if I was?”

“Yes you are, and it’s because you just seem the type.”

Feeling affronted, Prompto released her breath in an angry huff before turning to glare at the ceiling.

A few seconds later Noctis’ face appeared in her field of view.

“Go away.” She muttered.

Noctis smiled. “Nope.”

“Please go away?”

“Nope again.”

“I’m mad at you so, GO AWAY.”

He chuckled lightly and smiled wider. “Why are you mad at me?”

“Because you called me stupid.”

“I did not call you stupid. I said you were thinking stupid things, which you were.”

Prompto crossed her arms and cast her blue eyed gaze over to the wall so she wouldn’t have to look at his smug face.

“Hey. Look at me.”

She just glared even harder at the wall.

“Prompto. Look at me.”

Something in his voice was different now. It sounded kind of, pleading?

With a resigned sigh she looked back at him. His smile was gone now and he was frowning. She started feeling guilty again.

“Was what you said to me earlier a lie?”

Now she was confused. “What do you mean? What did I say?”

“You said that friends help each other. Was that a lie?”

Damn. Noctis was certainly a sly one, turning her own words back on her like that. Now she didn’t have a choice.

“No.” She whispered resignedly. “It wasn’t a lie.”

His smile returned, having won the argument. “Good. Now we should get going before Ignis storms in here and drags us out.”

Her eyes widened in horror. “Wait. Ignis?!”

Noctis’ smile turned wicked. “Of course Ignis. What, you thought _I_ was gonna drive?”

“Oh Gods…”Prompto muttered as she raised her hands to cover her face. 

Noctis just laughed.


	5. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto finally gets a chance to thank Ignis. Will she survive long enough to actually do it? There's also a surprise waiting for her at home that makes everything a little bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately not much happens in this chapter, aside from a bit of fluffiness, but it's necessary to get to the next one. Hope you guys like it.

_Don’t worry Prompto, everything is going to be fine. Sure, he didn’t seem to like you very much when you first met, but that was because he caught you stalking the Prince. It’s his job to protect Noctis and you were being weird. The man is not going to kill you…_

The words kept whirling around in her head the closer they got to the car but they didn’t seem to help much. All she could really think about was the look in Ignis’ eyes when he’d caught her. It promised pain and death, and now she was getting a ride home with him? He was going to find out where she lived…which meant he could get to her at any time!

“Oh Gods…”

Noctis laughed beside her and adjusted his grip around her waist. Yeah, that’s right. The Prince of Lucis was almost literally carrying her to his car. It was so embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as the fact that he had in fact done that exact thing earlier when he’d carried her into the nurse’s office. Her face had looked like a tomato when she’d learned _that_ little tidbit.

The nurse had been right though. The moment she’d gotten up off the bed a wave of dizziness assailed her and it hadn’t seemed to want to go away. Noctis had offered to help. Now, here she was with her arm around his shoulders and his own around her waist, half limping toward the vehicle that was going to take her to her doom.

“You’re thinking stupid things again aren’t you?” 

Prompto glared ahead as she pushed through another wave of dizziness. “They are not stupid. They are completely reasonable considering my last interaction with him.”

“You mean when he caught you ogling me from behind a tree?” Noctis said, trying to contain his laughter.

“I was not-you know what? Forget it. I’m tired and dizzy and if you’re just gonna keep making fun of me then I’m taking the bus.” She stated firmly before trying vainly to extricate herself from his hold.

“Okay, okay, stop. You keep struggling like that you’re gonna end up on the ground again. I’ll stop making fun of you alright?”

Judging by the amused smile on his face, Prompto didn’t quite believe him. Unfortunately it was too late to really do anything about it.

They had finally reached the car.

Ignis slowly got out of the driver’s seat looking as scary and imposing as he was the first time she’d seen him.

“Highness.” He said by way of greeting, giving Prompto a quick once over, before focussing solely on Noctis.

If ever there was a look that could make someone feel completely insignificant…that was it.

“Hey Specs. We need to give Prompto here a ride home.”

The spectacled man turned his attention back to her and Prompto really wished that she was sitting on a bus right now. It would be far less stressful. She felt like a tiny insect about to be squashed.

She raised her right hand and gave a little wave. “Uh…h-hey Ignis, nice to m-meet you?” Oops. She hadn’t really meant that to come out as a question.

Noctis snorted beside her and she cast a sideways glare over at him. He was so not being helpful.

Ignis took the two of them in for a moment before sighing and pushing his glasses up slightly. “Very well.” He said before gesturing them both toward the vehicle.

Feeling slightly relieved that she was still alive, she watched as the man proceeded to open the back door allowing Noctis to help her inside. 

As she waited for the other two to get in, Prompto looked around the interior of the vehicle. She was amazed at how high class it was. That was to be expected of royalty though. There wasn’t a speck of dirt anywhere, and the leather the seats were made of had to cost more than her whole house.

Once Noctis climbed in beside her he immediately leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. Prompto swore to herself that if he was planning on going to sleep, effectively leaving her alone with Ignis, she was going to punch him.

Seeming to feel her eyes boring into him, he opened one of his own and winked at her, before closing it again. Oh, she was so going to punch him.

“I will need your address if I am going to be dropping you off at home Miss Argentum.”

Prompto shot up straight when she heard Ignis speak to her. She hadn’t even heard him get into the car. Noctis chuckled lightly under his breath.

“Uhh…okay…” 

She relayed the pertinent information and they pulled away from the school. It would take about fifteen minutes to get to her house which meant a lot of awkward silence. Noctis was faking sleep, or actually sleeping, she couldn’t quite tell, so it was up to her to break it.

Prompto figured that maybe this was a good time to thank him for the other day. “Uhh…Ignis?”

“Do you start all of your sentences with the, _uhh_ , sound?” He asked while watching her in the rear-view mirror. “That is a highly inappropriate way to begin speaking to someone.”

Prompto felt her face turn fire red and she knew she was about to die of embarrassment. That seemed to be a new trend in her life. Beside her Noctis was holding his hand to his mouth in order to muffle his laughter.

“Uhh-Ack! I mean, no! I-I don’t start them all like that…”

“Good to know. Now, what was it you wanted to ask me?” Ignis said calmly as he looked back at the road.

Prompto had to concentrate very hard to not say, _uhh_ , when she started talking again. “I just…wanted to th-thank you for the other day. You know, catching me and bringing me to the nurse’s office…I guess…” She trailed off, feeling like a complete idiot.

Ignis looked back at her briefly once more. “You are welcome.” He said, effectively ending the conversation. Prompto was glad for that at least.

She let out a deep breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, now that the man’s attention wasn’t on her anymore, and sank back against the seat. The upholstery was really comfortable. If she didn’t have to get out soon she would probably follow Noctis’ example and take a little nap.

Speaking of Noctis, he suddenly knocked his knuckles against her arm and she looked over at him.

 _You okay?_ He mouthed.

Prompto nodded. She really was alright. Tired, dizzy, and incredibly intimidated, but she wasn’t scared for her life anymore. That was okay in her book.

Noctis smiled and then closed his eyes again. Prompto watched him for a moment before casting her gaze out the window. She hadn’t noticed before but there were some storm clouds rolling in. Well, at least she didn’t have anything pressing to do outside when she got home. 

She sighed and started drumming her fingers on the seat beside her. Now that she’d calmed down a little she had time to think about things. Mainly about what had happened in the gym. With that much speed behind it, Prompto had a bit of trouble believing that her being hit had been an accident.

Maybe Noctis had seen who threw it.

“Hey, Noctis?” She asked quietly. For some reason she felt she had to whisper or something. It was weird. Maybe it was because of the vibe Ignis was giving off? Kind of like a library type thing.

“Hmm?” Noctis questioned with his eyes still closed.

Prompto reached up to lightly trail her fingers over the spot where the ball had hit. It was still a little tender causing her to flinch slightly. She lowered her hand again and frowned down at her lap.

“Did you…see who threw the ball?”

Noctis opened his eyes and sat up a bit straighter. “It was some girl with brown hair who was really annoying. She was freaking out about the whole thing and she kept trying to grab you to see if you were okay. I actually had to push her away a few times. It was really over the top.”

Brown hair huh. “Do you know her name?”

Noctis leaned back and stared at the roof of the car as he thought. “It was…Adriana, I think. Why? Does it matter?”

Prompto knew it. It was bad enough that they were threatening her, but now Adriana was actively trying to hurt her? Things were starting to get out of control. She had to think of a way to fix this…

“Prompto? You alright?”

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Noctis, who was staring at her with slight concern in his eyes. Ignis was also watching her through the mirror. She must have zoned out or something.

“Oh uh, yeah. Sorry. Just a little tired I guess.” She tried to give them a reassuring smile but it didn’t seem to work very well.

He frowned slightly but thankfully he didn’t say anything else about it.

The rest of the drive was made in silence and Prompto hadn’t felt the need to break it. She was too tired and she was too busy thinking of ways she could get Adriana to back off. How did you get a jealous teenage girl to stop trying to destroy you?

She sighed and started drumming her fingers again. Nothing aside from telling a teacher or something was coming to mind. She really didn’t want to do that though. Telling a teacher meant that she couldn’t handle it herself. It meant giving up and she wanted to be able to fight through this by herself. Plus…she didn’t really want to be a snitch. Things would probably only get worse that way.

Jeez. It sounded like she was in some sort of prison drama.

She smiled slightly at the stupid thought. Maybe Noctis was right. She needed to stop thinking those.

Maybe she could just talk to Adriana? Explain to her again that she was just friends with Noctis?

Ha. Yeah right…

She sighed again and frowned. It also worried her a bit about how obsessed these girls really were with Noctis. They liked him so much that they were willing to hurt another student? That did not bode well. She didn’t want them to end up hurting him too. She’d read once that obsessed people could sometimes turn on the object of their obsession.

She had to stop this before something like that happened.

“Prompto.”

What if they threw a ball at _Noctis’_ head? They could get in serious trouble, maybe even get expelled. Prompto may not like them very much but she didn’t want them to get kicked out of school.

“Earth to Prompto?”

What if they ended up kidnapping him?! That happened sometimes right? Royalty got kidnapped all the time. She’d never heard of a bunch of teenage girls kidnapping anyone…but it could totally happen!

“Hey Prompto!”

Prompto nearly jumped right out of her skin when her name was suddenly yelled out right beside her. Whirling to the side she came face to face with a very annoyed looking Noctis. There was a bit of concern, but mostly annoyance.

“What?” She asked blinking slightly in confusion.

Noctis sighed in irritation before gesturing out her window. “We’re at your house.”

Prompto looked out the window, eyes widening in surprise when she saw that, yes, they were indeed in front of her house.

“Oh,” She muttered, feeling super embarrassed…again. She glanced up at the mirror and saw Ignis watching her too. He looked as annoyed as Noctis. Oops. “S-sorry…”

Noctis just shrugged. “You want me to help you to the door?” 

Prompto took stock of herself and realized with relief that she hadn’t felt dizzy in a while. “No. I think I’ll be alright. I don’t feel so dizzy anymore.”

Noctis looked skeptical.

“Really, I feel okay. Promise.” 

He sighed and shrugged again. “Okay. If you’re sure. See you tomorrow then?”

“Yup.” Prompto said with a smile causing Noctis to smile in return. 

She then leaned forward to speak to Ignis. “Thank you so much for the ride home Ignis. I really appreciate it.”

She was incredibly proud of herself for not letting her fear show. Judging by the surprise on the guy’s face, he was pleased about it too. 

“You are welcome, Miss Argentum.”

Prompto frowned slightly. “Hey…can you call me Prompto instead? Being called Miss Argentum all the time makes me feel old.”

Noctis snorted into his hand and Ignis looked very unamused.

“Very well, if that is what you wish. Have a good evening Prompto.”

Prompto smiled widely and then, deciding to be bold, she clapped him gently on the shoulder in a friendly manner, much like she did with Noctis.

Ignis looked surprised again but he didn’t say anything. Prompto took that as a win. Maybe Ignis would warm up to her eventually after all.

Feeling better, Prompto gave them a wave and then moved to open the door. It wasn’t raining yet but it would be soon. Better to get inside as fast as possible. She stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Half way to the house she heard her name being called. Looking back she saw Noctis staring at her through his open window.

“What?” She asked in confusion. A second later he held up her bag. “Oh…haha…”

She walked back over to the car and grabbed it from him. “Thanks.” She said, somewhat sheepishly. Noctis just rolled his eyes before rolling up his window.

Prompto laughed lightly and then headed back to the house. It wasn’t until she was at the door that she heard the car pull away. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought that someone was looking out for her. It was a very good feeling.

After unlocking the door she stepped inside and put her bag down. “I’m home…” She muttered into the silence.

“Prompto?”

Prompto nearly jumped right out of her skin again when a voice called out her name from inside. It took her a moment to recognize it, but when she did a wave of happiness washed over her. It was a nice change from the dizziness of earlier.

“Mom? Is that you?”

A second later a somewhat short, middle aged woman with long black hair and kind green eyes, walked out of the kitchen with a tender smile on her face. “Hello sweetheart.”

Prompto was flying forward even before she knew what she was doing. “Mom!” She cried as she threw herself into her mother’s arms.

She wasn’t normally this excitable when her parents came home. Sure she was always glad to see them, but she’d gotten more used to them being gone and having them home was usually just a nice treat. But, because of what had been happening over the past few days…Prompto was just really happy to see her. Nothing beat the comforting arms of your mom.

“Woah!” Phoebe Argentum cried out as she was nearly bowled over by the force of her daughters hug. “I missed you too Prompto.” She said with a slight laugh as she reciprocated the embrace.

Prompto pulled away slightly and looked up at her mom with a smile. “Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting you to be home.”

Her mother placed a gentle hand on her head. “I wasn’t expecting it either but we finished a bit early and I decided to come home until my next assignment comes through. It will probably only be for a few days though…” She trailed off with a slight frown. Despite outward appearances, Phoebe did not like the amount of time her daughter was left alone. More often than not it made her feel like a bad mother.

“That’s alright. I’m just glad you’re here _now_.” Prompto said affectionately. 

Her mother smiled before pulling fully away to take in the daughter she hadn’t seen in about two weeks. Prompto smiled at her mom’s usual ritual. She grew a little worried though when her mother started frowning.

“W-what is it?” She asked, concerned over the answer. Was her stress written on her face?

“What happened to you?” Phoebe asked as she brought her hand up to brush aside her daughter’s hair to reveal the still healing bruise from the ball and subsequent fall to the floor.

Prompto gave a bit of a shaky laugh. “O-oh…I had a little accident at school. Gym class mishap. You know how it goes.” She waved her hand dismissively, trying to play it down. 

Her mother looked like she was about to question it further but Prompto really didn’t want to get into the problems at school. Yet. She would talk to her mom but preferably at a time when she wasn’t suffering from intermittent dizziness.

“On the plus side I made a new friend.” She said with a wide smile. She just couldn’t _help_ smiling when she thought about Noctis. It was still really strange that she could actually say that she had a friend in the first place.

“Really?” Her mom asked, sounding excited for her. “That’s wonderful sweetheart. What’s their name?”

“Uhhh…” How to go about this… “Noctis?” Best to just bite the bullet.

Her mother stared at her for a moment before something must have clicked because her eyes widened in surprise. “Noctis? As in Prince Noctis?!”

Prompto fiddled anxiously with her fingers. “Y-yes?”

Phoebe blinked in shock at her daughter but then realized that she was making her uncomfortable. “W-well that’s…wonderful honey. Friends with Prince Noctis…”

“Yeah. It really is mom. Noctis is really nice and we have a lot in common.” Her excitement over having a friend suddenly seemed to burst out. “He loves King’s Night too! We were playing the other day at lunch and it was really fun to actually play with someone else! A-And he brought me chocolate cake that was awesome, and it totally oozed chocolate mom! Can you believe that?! It’s called Lava Cake. Oh, and they drove me home today and the car was amazing! It was really shiny and clean and it smelled like mint or something! I also…”

Phoebe watched and listened as her daughter rambled on and on about how amazing being friends with Prince Noctis was and, seeing her so happy, well, she didn’t think that that was so bad. She had her worries of course, being friends with royalty would definitely have its challenges, but she also knew that her daughter deserved a little something good in her life. Seeing that beautiful smile on her face…it would be worth anything to keep it there.

“…and I hope that you can meet him one day!” Prompto finished, blue eyes shining with excitement. Her mother laughed lightly and smiled at her.

“I’m glad that you seem so happy and I hope one day I can meet him too sweetheart.”

Prompto smiled even wider. “Anyway, mom, what were you doing in the kitchen?”

“Well, I was thinking of making my world famous casserole for dinner.”

“Really?! Awesome! Haven’t had that in a while.” Prompto said happily. She absolutely loved her mother’s casserole. Her parents were both good cooks, her…not so much, so it was always nice to have someone else do the cooking once in a while.

“Alright then. Why don’t you get cleaned up and start on your homework while I take care of the food.”

Prompto had a lot of freedom in her life. With her parents gone more than they were home, she had learned to be responsible for herself. She was in charge of her time management and everything that that entailed. When she was younger, and they would suddenly show up and tell her what to do after so much time away, she had been kind of resentful. What right did they have to boss her around when they were never there? But, as she grew up, she began to enjoy those times. They made her feel normal.

“Okay!” She said with an enthusiastic smile. Her mother smiled back, pat her lightly on the head, and then headed into the kitchen. Prompto watched her go before making her way toward her bedroom. Once there she placed her bag on the bed and flopped down beside it. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Then her phone buzzed.

_Noct: did the damsel make it inside alright?_

Prompto glared at the word damsel.

_Prompto: yes. and I am not a damsel! i told u before, just having a few off days :(_

_Noctis: sure u r_

She grumbled and tossed her phone onto the bed beside her. She did have to admit that he had a point, she was acting pretty damsel like…

“Ugh…it’s not like I passed out on purpose…and I definitely didn’t throw a ball at my own head…”

Prompto was going to have to get her shit together if she was going to prove that she wasn’t some lame girl who needed saving all the time. That’s not the type of relationship she wanted to have with Noctis. She picked her phone back up.

_Prompto: u free at all after school tomorrow?_

While waiting for a response, Prompto pushed herself up and started grabbing her stuff out of her bag. She placed her camera down on her desk and then went to work pulling out her notebooks. A crumbled up piece of paper fell out. Prompto froze briefly when she realized what it was.

Reaching down she picked up the hate filled note and held it loosely in her palm. Then, in a surge of anger, she threw it as hard as she could into the garbage can beside her desk.

Stupid, jealous, girls making her feel like crap when she was finally supposed to be happy. Why couldn’t they just leave her the hell alone…? She dropped down onto her bed and placed her face in her hands.  


What the hell was tomorrow going to be like? Were they going to throw a rock at her head next time?

She sighed again, lifted her head, and stared blankly at the wall in front of her. She was just going to have to watch her back. No more obliviously walking into rooms. It was time to take a more proactive approach. Maybe she should start using her phone to record her interactions with them. That way she would have proof at least.

But…if they found out, things would get even worse.

She looked over at her limited addition blue Chocobo plushie where he was leaning against her pillow. 

“What do you think Tidus? How do I get out of this one?”

He just stared back at her with his empty golden eyes. Prompto couldn’t help but laugh. Now she was asking for advice from a stuffed animal? Maybe she really _was_ going insane.

She was saved from any more inner musings when her phone buzzed again.

_Noctis: im free till six. why?_

Prompto smiled as she remembered why she’d texted him in the first place.

_Prompto: u and me, arcade. im gonna kick your royal ass at Star Shooter. i’ll show u whos the real damsel in this relationship ;)_

The answer was immediate.

_Noctis: oh u are on blondie_

_Prompto: bring it!_

She smiled and was about to get up when she thought of something else she had to say.

_Promtpo: oh…and Noctis? thanks for checking up on me_

_Noctis: anytime Prom :)_

Prompto smiled at the nickname. It was the first time anyone ever called her that. It was nice.

Feeling better than she did before she’d texted him, Prompto quickly finished unloading her bag and then started up on her homework. It was a big help in keeping her misgivings and fears from crowding her mind. She would deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.

Now, it was homework and her mom’s delicious casserole. Plus, she no longer felt dizzy, which was the most important thing.

Life was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In most stories I read on here Prompto's parents are mostly portrayed as neglectful and abusive but I'm going to try to get away from that. The neglect will still be there because they are gone a lot but they do love their daughter and feel guilty for being gone so much. I just figured that Prom is going to have a hard enough time at school in this story, she doesn't need it at home to.


	6. Rainy Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto hates the rain but tries to make the best of it.

The rain had kept up most of the night which meant that Prompto had trouble sleeping. For some strange reason she could never seem to sleep well when it rained. It made her feel…scared. She had no idea why and she’d honestly never thought that much about it. She would just curl up with Tidus and try to block it out. Most times it was a losing battle.

It was down to a light mist now and so Prompto had decided to make the most of her early morning. She decided that going for a run was a good idea. She’d been a bit lazy in her workouts the past few days, for obvious reasons, so now was as good a time as any to get back into the swing of things. And, as a bonus, she brought her camera along and figured she’d try and get a good photo of the sunrise during a cloudy day. The colors that broke through the dreariness were beautiful and she wanted to be able to capture it.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that Prompto tried to find the perfect angle multiple times, the sun was not cooperating. She just couldn’t seem to find a place that was high enough to get the full affect. She got the top of it and that was about it. The wall kept getting in the way.

With an annoyed sigh she lowered her camera and thought that maybe, one day, she would venture outside the protective embrace of King Regis’s wall and get the perfect shot.

Today was not that day though, so with another rather dramatic sigh, she packed up and headed back toward home at a much slower pace than when she’d started. It was sad how out of shape she felt after only missing her run for two days.

Her mom was awake and waiting with a towel when she got back.

“So? Did you get it?” Phoebe asked, voice filled with curiosity as she handed it to her daughter.

“No…” Prompto grumbled as she plopped herself down in a chair at the table and rubbed the towel furiously over her wet hair. Her mother laughed before placing a plate of eggs down in front of her.

“Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but that means I’d have to get up at the butt crack of dawn again…” Prompto mumbled as she put the towel aside and idly poked her eggs with her fork. Ever since the whole omelet fiasco they hadn’t been that appetizing to her. 

Seeing her playing with her food her mother gave her that look. The one mothers give their children when they’re doing something they’re not overly fond of. With a slight pout, Prompto scooped up some eggs and reluctantly shoved them in her mouth.

“Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want in order to get what we do. That’s just the way of the world sweetheart.”

“The way of the world sucks…”

Phoebe laughed and ran her fingers through her daughter’s dishevelled hair as she passed by to head back into the kitchen to get her own breakfast.

Prompto watched her go with a fond smile. She really loved having her mom home. 

Looking back down at her plate, Prompto figured she needed a second opinion. She pulled out her phone and took a quick pic of her eggs and then sent it off to Noctis.

_Prompto: does this look like a dead chocobo to u?_

She put her phone down and took another reluctant bite. Now that the visual was in her head it was hard to get rid of it. Tidus would not be pleased to see her eating his brethren. 

_Noctis: no? and u seriously need to stop with the food pics. i really don’t care what u eat for breakfast…or any other meal_

Prompto laughed and put her phone down. Little did he know, now she was going to send one of every meal, including snacks.

She turned her attention back to the matter at hand and stared down at her plate with a grim expression. “Noctis says you don’t look like what I think you look like…” She picked her fork back up and speared another piece of egg. “You are not what I think you are…” She mumbled as she brought it to her lips. It just brushed the flesh of her top lip before a shutter of revulsion ran through her. She dropped her fork and pushed the plate away.

So gross.

_Prompto: ugh, I cant do it! they remind me of Tidus! what do i do?! my mom made them, I cant just not eat them…right?_

She heard her mom rummaging in the kitchen and quickly cast her eyes around trying to find a place to dump the evidence. Ugh! There was nothing!

_Noctis: ok, few questions. 1-who the hell is Tidus? 2-your moms home? 3-texting me about your food is gonna be a thing now isn’t it? as for the eggs…just do what I do with veggies, don’t eat them. your mom will get over it_

Prompto sighed at his unhelpful advice. She didn’t want to hurt her mom’s feelings.

_Prompto: Tidus is my chocobo, and yes my mom is home. she was waiting when u dropped me off yesterday:) and I really hope that Ignis gives better advice than u do…also, my eating habits are very exciting. U should be thrilled to know them_

_Noctis: he likes to think he does, and believe me…I am _beyond_ thrilled_

She sighed again. It looked like she was just going to have to bite the metaphorical bullet. Forcing herself to think of non-chocobo related things, Prompto shoved another forkful of eggs into her mouth. 

Knowing that speed was important when doing something you hated, she took another bite. And then another…and another. In fact, she devoured the entire plate in a matter of minutes.It was awful and she had to force herself to keep it all down. It looked as though eggs were officially on the no eat list.

“Oh, you’re done already? I was looking forward to eating with you.”

Prompto looked up as her mom re-entered the room with her own plate of eggs. Her stomach churned in disgust.

“S-sorry mom…t-they were just so good I couldn’t help myself!” She stuttered out with an awkward laugh. _Way to play it cool Prompto…_

Her mom sat down beside her, still looking a bit disappointed. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed them anyway.”

“So,” Phoebe adjusted herself so that she was facing her daughter. “What are your plans for today?”

Prompto couldn’t help but laugh. “You mean after school?”

Her mother flushed slightly in embarrassment. “O-oh yes. I forgot you had school today. My internal clock is still a bit off.”

Prompto laughed again and lightly patted her mom’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “All good mom. You can’t control your elderly brain after all.”

Phoebe glared over at her which, of course, only made her laugh even harder.

“Laugh it up young lady. You’re not too old for me to give a spanking you know.”

Prompto smiled over at her mother and tried to calm herself down a bit. “Sorry, sorry. I just don’t get many opportunities to bug you so I have to take what I can get.”

Her mother shook her head in fond annoyance. “You get more like your father every day, you know that?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Prompto said with a cheeky grin. Her mother merely laughed along with her.

“Anyway, back to your question. I made plans with Noctis after school, if that’s okay? We were gonna go to the arcade for a few hours.”

She watched her mother stiffen up slightly at the mention of Noctis and she couldn’t help but wonder if her mom was really as okay with her new friendship as she’d first seemed.

“Oh, yes…Prince Noctis.” Phoebe said with a slight frown on her face as if she was thinking hard about something.

Prompto started to get nervous. What if her mom wanted her to stop being friends with him? “Umm…if you don’t want me to go…I won’t.”

Her mother started slightly as if she’d forgotten Prompto was in the room. The frown immediately vanished from her face and she smiled at her daughter.

“Of course not sweetheart. I want you to go and have some fun. Will you be back for dinner?”

Prompto thought about it before remembering that Noctis had to be back by six. “Yup. Noctis has to be back at the Citadel by six. You and me dinner is _on_.”

Her mom frowned again. “You and me dinner? That is terrible grammar dear. Maybe I should hire you a tutor…” She finished thoughtfully.

Prompto groaned. “Aww come on mom, I was just trying to be cute.” She said, batting her eyelashes innocently.

Phoebe just laughed and took another bite of her food. Prompto smiled while glancing absently down at her phone. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she saw what time it was.

“Holy crap! I’m gonna be late!”

She jumped up out of her chair and started rushing around to gather her things.

“Watch your language sweetheart.”

“Sure, sure, mom.” She muttered as she shoved her camera into her bag. Running back over, she wrapped her mom in an awkward one armed side hug. “I’ll see you after school!” 

Before her mother could even respond, she was out the door, trudging through the rain which seemed to be picking up again…much to her annoyance.

***********************************************************************************

Prompto looked and felt like a drowned rat when she finally reached the school. Her hair hung in limp strands and her clothes were almost completely soaked through. It was her own damn fault for forgetting her stupid umbrella, but that didn’t stop her from being pissed off.

“Wow…you look terrible.”

Freezing mid step in the middle of the hallway, Prompto turned around with an unamused glare to see Noctis standing behind her with a smirk on his face. The bastard was completely dry.

“Yeah, well, we can’t all have fancy cars and drivers can we…” She muttered, feeling thoroughly annoyed.

Noctis just laughed before walking over to her. “No we can’t.” He said proudly.

Prompto felt the urge to punch him again. She slumped her shoulders and pouted. “Please don’t be mean. I feel like I fell in a lake with my clothes on.”

“You look like it too.” Noctis said with a laugh. But, when he saw the look on her face, he held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Okay, sorry. That was the last one. I promise.”

Prompto didn’t believe him but she was just so over the whole conversation that she decided to move on. 

Shaking her head like a dog, satisfyingly managing to splash Noctis a little in the process, she smiled over at him. “So, we still going to the arcade after school?”

Noctis was the one glaring at her this time as he wiped the water droplets off his face. “Yeah. But uh…someone kind of has to come with us…”

Prompto’s eyebrows raised in question causing Noctis to sigh in resignation.

“It’s Ignis. He insists on coming and I can’t talk him out of it. Believe me, I’ve tried. Multiple times.”

She immediately felt anxious. Sure she’d survived her run in with Ignis the other day but he was probably only being nice to her because she was hurt. Now that she was better, nothing was stopping him from-“

“Hey!”

She jolted slightly when Noctis practically yelled in her face. 

“Gods! What?!” She yelled back at him.

Noctis shook his head. “You were thinking stupid thoughts again. Stop doing that.”

Prompto sighed and ran her hand through her wet hair. How did he keep knowing when she was having negative thoughts? Was it written all over her face? Her mom was always telling her that she was very expressive. “Okay, whatever. But…why does he want to come? Does he want to play too?”

Noctis snorted. “Yeah right. He just wants to keep an eye on us. It’s such a pain in the ass.”

She thought about that a bit. It could be one of two things. Either he was worried that something could happen to the Prince if he was running around the city without protection or…he just didn’t want Noctis to be alone with her…

“He…doesn’t like me much…does he…” 

Noctis looked over at her muttered words. His expression was inscrutable for a moment before he suddenly snorted again.

“It’s not you. Ignis doesn’t like anyone. He’s had a stick up his ass ever since he was born.”

Prompto couldn’t help but smile at that visual. “Ah, I’m not too worried then I guess. I’m a very lovable person, he’ll warm up to me eventually.”

Noctis rolled his eyes. “Sure he will. Oh, hey, how’s your head by the way?”

Prompto smiled. “All good here. I was a bit dizzy when I got home but it went away eventually.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah, aside from the fact that I’m probably going to catch a cold in the near future…” She mumbled, smile shifting into a frown.

Noctis just laughed. “Well, let’s go then. The sooner we get this day started, the sooner we can get outta here.”

Prompto agreed wholeheartedly. Although…she did wish she didn’t have to spend the entire day in her wet clothes. With her luck lately, she was probably going to end up with pneumonia or something.

Oh well, she’d have a few days off of school if that happened. Although…now that she had Noctis in her life…she kind of didn’t want to miss a moment of it.

******************************************************************************

Prompto managed to make it to lunch without running into her nemesis Adriana, for which she couldn’t be more grateful. She still felt damp and sticky so her mood wasn’t the greatest, any added stress was likely to make her snap. Despite the way she portrayed herself, she could definitely lose her shit sometimes.

Noctis seemed to be in a great mood though. He was dry, so why wouldn’t he be.

“Mmhmm…” Prompto mumbled as he started telling her, yet again, how he’d beaten a dungeon in King’s Night the other day. One that she had been trying to get through _all week_.

“Are you even listening?” He said when he noticed her lack of enthusiasm.

Prompto looked up from where she’d been idly dragging her finger across his desktop. When she saw the annoyed look on his face she gave him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry. I just feel really gross and it’s distracting.”

Noctis laughed. “Well, at least your hair’s dry now. Although…the way it looks right now kind of reminds me of a chocobo’s butt.”

With wide eyes, her hands immediately flew to her head, trying to flatten it. “What?! Really?!”

Noctis just laughed again. 

Feeling even more irritated than earlier, Prompto pushed herself out of her seat intending to head to the bathroom to try to fix her hair.

“Whoa!” Noctis said as he grabbed her wrist. “Where are you going?”

Prompto scowled down at him. “You just said that I look like the ass end of a chocobo! I have to fix this!”

Not sparing him another glance, she gently pulled her hand from his grasp and nearly fled the room.

Prompto may not really obsess over her looks like other girls her age but…A Chocobo’s Butt?! That was way too embarrassing to let go!

She scurried into the washroom and looked in the mirror over the sink.

“Ugh…it really does look like that…” She groaned. Noctis had been right. Her blond hair was sticking up in all kinds of weird angles. She reached for that tap and ran her hands under the water. Maybe if she wet it a little she could flatten it out some.

Frowning, Prompto ran her hands over her hair and through the thick blond strands with her wet fingers. She didn’t want to get her hair _too_ wet or else she’d just run into the same problem. She really wished that she had her comb with her but she’d left her bag in the classroom and the stupid thing was in it.

“I don’t think that that is going to help much.”

Prompto froze at the sound of a voice that she really didn’t want to hear. She watched in the mirror as Adriana walked up to stand beside her at the counter.

She lowered her hands and shifted her gaze down toward the sink and away from the piercing disdain written all over the other girls face.

“What do you want Adriana?” She asked quietly, trying to keep her voice steady.

Adriana smirked into the mirror before pulling a tube of lipstick out of her purse. As she applied it, her green eyes kept watching Prompto.

“I’ve been looking all over for you Prompto.” She said in a sickly sweet voice that oozed contempt. “I just wanted to make sure you were feeling alright after your little _accident_ yesterday. That was a pretty nasty fall you had.”

Prompto’s hands clenched around the edge of the counter. “I’m fine.” She bit out.

“That’s good.” Adriana said with a smile on her face. “Wouldn’t want there to be any permanent damage.”

With how hard she was now grabbing the counter, Prompto was surprised that the thing didn’t break. 

“Yeah…wouldn’t want that…” She mumbled, still staring down at the sink.

“That was really nice of Prince Noctis to carry you to the nurse’s office. Wasn’t it?”

Prompto tensed up at the edge in the girl’s voice. “I didn’t know that happened until after I woke up there.”

Adriana pulled out a brush and started dragging it through her light brown locks with a thoughtful look on her face. “Of course. You were unconscious. I completely understand.”

For one brief solitary moment Prompto thought everything was going to be okay. She thought that Adriana would be reasonable and just…let it go.

Boy was she wrong.

The brush was slamming into her stomach before she even knew what was happening.

Prompto cried out in shock and curled in on herself protectively. The wind was knocked out of her and it left her gasping for breath as she slowly sank to the floor.

“I told you that if I didn’t like what I saw, you’d pay for it. Do better next time.”

Without another word, the psychotic girl put her brush back in her purse and swept out of the room with a flip of her hair, leaving Prompto gasping on the cold tile of the bathroom floor.

So much for avoiding trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had been planning to put the arcade scene in this chapter but as I'm writing it, it's turning out to be nearly as long as this one. That's nearly sixteen pages. So I split it up. It's a bit more lighthearted than this one so worry not, Prom will get to have a little fun for once :)


	7. Rainy Days Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto and Noctis have a fun afternoon at the arcade where she finally sees a different side of Ignis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long delay in updating. Life happened, as it often does, and then I re-wrote this chapter 4 times because I wasn't happy with it. I'm finally pleased with the outcome so here it is! Hope you guys like it.

Eventually, Prompto managed to drag herself back to her feet. Once standing, she looked at her reflection in the mirror with a frown. She really was pathetic…

She still looked like a damn chocobo, her eyes were watering as she tried to hold back the tears, and now her stomach hurt…a lot.

Lifting her shirt slightly, she inspected her abdomen. There were no visible marks, _yet_ , but she sure as hell could feel it. Just breathing in hurt like a bitch.

She sighed and dropped her shirt. Prompto had promised herself that she wouldn’t be caught off guard again but here she was. This was getting beyond ridiculous. What she really wanted to know was, how in the hell did Adriana know that she was in the bathroom? Was it just an unfortunate coincidence, or did someone tell her? 

Prompto laughed darkly. Now she was just being paranoid.

She sighed again and gently placed her hand on her stomach. Maybe talking to her mom about what was happening was a good idea. She’d wanted to hold off, try to deal with it herself but…things were just getting worse and worse. A part of her just wanted to go back to being invisible…

“No.” Prompto bit out at her face in the mirror. She glared at herself and pointed threateningly at her reflection. “No. You _aren’t_ going to do this right now. You are not some poor pathetic weakling that needs help. You are not someone who gives up. You decided that you wanted to change, be better, and you are damn well gonna do it!”

Her voice echoed embarrassingly around the room and she was immensely grateful that she was the only one around.

The little pep talk seemed to work though. Her gloominess dissipated and she nodded to herself. This wasn’t the time to wallow in self-pity. She was a strong, independent woman, and it was time to start acting like it!

She smiled at her reflection, briefly tried to smoosh down her hair again only to give up when nothing really changed, before whirling around and marching purposefully out of the room.

It was time to get her lunch on!

_Ding Ding Dong!_

The bell rang out around her and her stomach sank. “Seriously?” She muttered to herself as students started piling out of their classrooms and flooding the halls. Apparently she’d wasted too much time in the bathroom…

“…Time to get my study on…” She said, with much less enthusiasm.

Well, at least she had something to look forward to after school. The trip to the arcade was the only light in her shitty day apparently.

******************************************************************************************

Prompto tried not to wince as she climbed into the car beside Noctis after school. She didn’t want him to worry and even more…she just wanted to forget about what happened in the bathroom. Again, it was the wrong way to handle things, but she just wanted one day…one damn day where she could relax and pretend everything was okay. The first half sucked but she was going to make damn sure that the second half was better. Even if that meant faking it to the extreme.

One good thing however, was that it wasn’t raining anymore. She would definitely take _that_ win. The drowned rat look didn’t suit her.

“So, you ready to show me your _awesome shooting skills_?” Noctis asked as she closed her door.

She turned to smile at him. “Heck yeah I am! You’re not gonna know what hit you.”

Noctis just smirked. “You wanna make things a bit more interesting then?”

Prompto was intrigued. “Oh yeah? How so?”

“How about, winner gets to keep all the loot we find in King’s Knight for the next week, and the loser has to…sit through one of Iggy’s lectures about the negative aspects of gambling.”

“Why exactly do I have to be involved in this ridiculous bet?” Ignis asked, annoyance clear in his tone.

The two of them ignored him.

Prompto’s smile widened significantly. While she didn’t particularly want any part of a lecture from Ignis, she was pretty confident in her abilities. So, without any hesitation, she held her hand out to Noctis to seal the deal. “You’re on. Prepare to lose.”

Noctis just smiled back at her with a look of mischief in his dark eyes as he shook her hand.

In the front seat, Ignis just sighed in resignation.

*****************************************************************************

They pulled up to the arcade and headed inside as Ignis went to park the car. Prompto took it as a win that the man was actually willing to let her be alone with the Prince for more than two seconds.

“So what do you wanna do first? Any game you want to play? Or do you just want to go right for the epic battle of the ages?”

Noctis placed his hands behind his head and gave her a smirk. “Do you really need to ask?”

Prompto laughed. “Epic battle it is!” She punctuated her words with a punch to the air, just barely avoiding hitting the kid next to her in the face. “Oops…” She mumbled as the kid glared at her before walking away.

“And you really think you’re gonna beat me?” Noctis said with a slight laugh.

Prompto pouted. “Hey, just because I might be a _slight_ spaz sometimes, does not mean that that transfers to my shooting skills. You will see soon enough, oh doubting one.”

Noctis just shook his head before heading off in the direction of the shooting games. Prompto watched him make his way through the crowd with a smile before scurrying after him.

Thankfully Star Shooter was free so they immediately stepped up to the screen. Prompto grabbed one of the guns and twirled it around her finger before sending Noctis a smirk.

“You ready to lose?”

Noctis grabbed the other gun and held it up. “I could ask you the same question.”

Prompto laughed and then turned to face the screen, holding her gun out in front of her. “Let’s do this!”

Noctis pressed the start button, and then they were off.

The whole point of Star Shooter was, basically, to shoot stars. They would appear on the screen in a flash and the more of them you hit, the more points you scored. That was the first level. The second one was harder. It wasn’t only stars that appeared and if you shot anything that wasn’t a star you lost points. After that it only got more difficult, like most games.

Prompto wasn’t worried though. She’d made it to the very last level…multiple times. This was _her_ game. She was not going to lose.

Noctis was keeping up with her pretty well however. Not that she was really surprised. With all the real life training he must have gotten over the years, she would have been concerned if he _wasn’t_.

But…it wasn’t quite good enough.

They were nearing the end of the third level and Prompto’s score was at least 3000 points above Noctis’.

She could tell that he was getting slightly frustrated because he was missing more than he was hitting now and her score just kept steadily climbing.

She would be frustrated to. It didn’t stop her from trying even harder though.

“Hey, I thought you were good at this.” She said with a wicked smirk, not taking her eyes off the screen as she quickly gained another 400 points.

Noctis just growled and seemed to redouble his efforts.

It didn’t make a bit of difference. By the end of the final level, Prompto had Noctis beat by 6000 points.

She didn’t quite beat her previous record but it was nothing to sneer at.

“Unbelievable…” Noctis muttered as he shoved his gun back into its holder on the machine.

“Being a sore loser is unbecoming Highness.”

Prompto whirled around in surprise when Ignis spoke from behind them. She hadn’t even heard him arrive. The man moved like a friggin ninja.

“I am _not_ a sore loser.” Noctis said with what was clearly a pout.

Prompto couldn’t help but laugh. “Then what do you call that look on your face?”

Noctis turned to glare at her. “Whatever. I’m going to go get a drink.”

Without another word he stormed off toward the concession area. Prompto watched him go feeling a little guilty. Maybe she should have let him win?

“Letting him win would have been a mistake. He needs to learn that things will not always go his way.”

Prompto looked over to Ignis with a frown. How did everyone always know what she was thinking? She couldn’t be _that_ much of an open book…could she? Or maybe…Ignis could read minds?!

“I cannot read your mind Prompto.” Ignis said with a sigh. “Anyone would have felt the same when His Highness stormed off like that.”

“Oh…” Prompto felt her face heat up in embarrassment. “That...makes sense.”

“Indeed.” Ignis said as he adjusted his glasses. 

The atmosphere seemed to get kind of awkward after that. Ignis was just…really intimidating, and she had no idea what to say to him. He was very rigid and he didn’t seem to want anything to do with her. Prompto needed some kind of in.

Noctis seemed to think that the man wouldn’t want to play, but maybe if she just asked him? It couldn’t hurt…

“So uhh, Ignis?”

He looked down at her with an unreadable expression on his face. “Yes?”

_So intimidating…_

“Umm…do you, it’s totally okay if you don’t want to! But, do you, maybe, want to…play a round of Star Shooter with me?”

Ignis’ eyes widened slightly before returning to normal. “I’m afraid not Prompto.”

Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. It was so stupid to ask in the first place. She knew he wouldn’t want to play a game with her. She would have to think of some other way to get him to accept her.

“Thank you for asking however.”

She looked back up at his words. He was smiling! Sort of. It was more of a tiny quirk of the lips, but for Ignis, it was definitely a smile.

Prompto’s face lit up. She’d managed to make Ignis smile! Awesome! She was totally on her way to being friends with him!

“What’s with the stupid look on your face?”

Prompto looked over to see Noctis coming back with three drinks in his hands. Awww, so he really _wasn’t_ all that mad that he’d lost. She was glad for that at least.

“What stupid look?” She asked.

“The look that says, I just won eight million gil.”

Prompto’s eyes widened at the amount and she stared dreamily off into space. “Wow…eight million gil. If I had that much…all of my dreams would come true…” 

Noctis just rolled his eyes. “Forget I even asked. Here.” He thrust one of the soda’s he was holding into her hands.

“Oh! Thanks Noctis. I guess it’s only natural that the loser congratulate the winner with a gift. I hope you’re looking forward to your wonderful conversation with Ignis later.”

Noctis scowled at her and made a move to grab the drink back, but Prompto was faster. She danced backwards and out of his reach.

“Ah, ah, ah, no take backs!” She laughed with a smirk.

Noctis scowled even more before turning to Ignis and shoving his drink at him as well.

“Well, this was fun. Can we go now?”

Ignis gave the Prince a disapproving look. Before the man could say anything though, Prompto stepped in.

“Oh, come on Noct,” She wrapped her arm around his and started dragging him off toward one of the other games. This one was more combat oriented and Prompto figured Noctis would be able to kick her butt at it. Then they’d be even. “We still have an hour after all, don’t wanna waste it. Unless…you _want_ to go back to the Citadel and be early for…whatever it is you have to be back there for?”

Noctis immediately stopped struggling. “Fine…” He muttered.

Prompto smiled widely. “Thought so.” She had no idea what he had to do, but whatever it was, she knew that he probably wouldn’t want to do it.

He just rolled his eyes again but Prompto could see the slight smile on his face. What she didn’t see, was the one on Ignis’.

********************************************************************************

“I should’ve made the bet on _this_ game.” Noctis said jovially as he absolutely crushed Prompto at Death Match V. It was basically a fighting game. Player vs player. Only one winner. And that was Noctis, much to his delight.

“But you didn’t. Too bad. All of that lovely loot is mine for the taking.” Prompto said as she stepped away from the game to stretch her arms up above her head. She winced slightly when the movement aggravated the growing bruise on her stomach but, luckily, no one seemed to notice.

“How did you get to be so good at shooting games anyway?”

Prompto thought back on all the lonely hours she’d spent just killing time at the arcade. She really didn’t want to tell him that. It was way too pathetic. “I’m just naturally talented I guess.”

Noctis gave her a flat look, but when she wasn’t any more forthcoming than that, he decided to let it go.

She was grateful for that. Despite the fact that Noctis hadn’t given her any reason to think that he would just tell her to get lost at any moment, that’s exactly what she kept expecting to happen. If he realized how truly pathetic she really was…he would drop her in an instant.

“Well, I hate to ruin your fun, but we will need to be leaving soon if we are to arrive back at the Citadel on time for your meeting, Your Highness.” Ignis said, not really sounding sorry at all.

Noctis groaned dramatically. “Why do I even have to be at this stupid thing in the first place?”

“Another meeting?”

Noctis turned to look at her. “Yeah. And this one is gonna be even _more_ boring.”

“Well,” Prompto said, leaning in slightly to whisper in the Prince’s ear. “Now that you’re not mad at me, operation distraction is a go.”

He looked at her quizzically for a moment before realization washed over his face causing him to smile.

Ignis looked between them with suspicion. “What are the two of you up to?”

Noctis just shrugged. “Nothing. Are we going now or what?”

The advisor sighed before gesturing toward the door. “Shall we?”

Prompto watched the whole thing in amusement. It was pretty obvious how close the two of them were. She couldn’t help wondering how long they’d known each other.

She briefly wondered if she and Noctis would ever get to that level.

“Yup, yup, let’s go! I have to start some dungeon crawling in King’s Knight to get some sweet loot while I still can!”

Noctis sighed. “I really regret making that stupid bet…”

“I guess that means I won’t have to lecture you now.” Ignis said in a flat tone making Noctis smile at the realization. “Although, there are numerous other topics on which I have a wealth of knowledge. Perhaps I could switch to one of those?”

Prompto’s eyes lit up. “Totally! Do you know anything about photography?” She blurted out before her mouth could catch up with her brain.

The two of them turned to her with questioning looks on their faces. 

“Photography?” Ignis asked curiously. “I’m afraid that I don’t know as much as I’d like on the subject. Why that particular topic?”

Prompto flushed in embarrassment. She hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud. She really didn’t want to bring up the whole, _photographing Noctis without his permission thing_. “O-oh, uhh…just think it’s a bit interesting…ya know? Haha…”

Noctis, seeming to see how uncomfortable she was, decided to come to her rescue. In his own way…

“You do realize that this is supposed to be a punishment for the loser right? If you enjoy it, it defeats the purpose.”

Prompto glared at him, shaking off her nervousness. “Well, maybe I’ll ask Ignis to teach you math. How do you like that?”

Noctis huffed in annoyance and glared back at her. “Yeah? Well, how about for our next bet I have him teach you history?”

“Fine. But if I win he’s gonna make you sit through… _three_ meetings! One right after the other!”

“Maybe I’ll have him supervise everything you do for an entire day then!”

Prompto was about to offer up another ridiculous idea when she suddenly realized that they were literally fighting over a bet that hadn’t even happened yet.

“Pfft…hahahaha!” She clutched her sides to try and stave off some of the pain in her stomach as she broke out into laughter.

It took a second, but Noctis suddenly burst out laughing too, and the entire time Ignis just watched on with long suffering amusement.

After a few minutes, Ignis cleared his throat, trying to get their attention. After wiping their eyes to get rid of any stray tears, they both looked over at him as a few more chuckles escaped.

“As amusing as all of this is, we really do have to go Your Highness.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Noctis said, waving off the advisors concerns before turning to Prompto. “So…did we actually even settle anything here?”

Prompto let out another laugh. “Hell if I know. But how could you say that you were gonna have Ignis tail me for a day? That’s totally weird.”

Noctis snorted in amusement. “I have no idea, it just popped out. Maybe I’ve been hanging out with stalkers too much.” He finished with a smirk.

Prompto pouted. “ _Why_ can’t you just let that go!” She whined.

Noctis just laughed again before wrapping his arm around hers and pulling her toward the exit. “Come on, we better head out before Iggy pops a blood vessel.”

Prompto looked around behind them to see said man frowning at their backs as they walked away. 

“Yeah…he does look kind of annoyed.”

“He always looks like that.”

She thought about the slight smile she’d managed to wrestle out of the advisor earlier and couldn’t help but smile herself. Ignis was definitely more than an uptight control freak and Prompto was looking forward to seeing more of it.

*************************************************************************************

They piled into the car and Noctis immediately sank into the plush seats and closed his eyes. Prompto wondered if he was _ever_ awake during car rides.

She stared out the window as Ignis drove and smiled brightly at her reflection in the mirror. The day may have started out pretty shitty…but it certainly didn’t stay that way.

She’d gotten to just hang out with her friend like a normal teenager and it looked as though Noctis had had fun as well. She was pretty darn happy at the moment, and not even the bruise on her stomach could take that away from her.

Prompto also felt kind of excited because while they’d been goofing off for most of the time, she’d also managed to come up with a new, better, idea about how to get Noctis into his own apartment. Her eyes trailed from the window up to the back of Ignis’ head. 

Yes…Ignis was definitely the key. 

“Wow…that has to be the creepiest smile I have ever seen.”

Jumping slightly, Prompto turned to see Noctis watching her with one eye cracked open.

She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. “It wasn’t creepy! It was…thoughtful and devious.” 

Noctis just rolled his eye before closing it again. “You’ll have to tell me what the thought was that created such a _thoughtful and devious_ smile then.”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s only in its beginning stage.”

“Beginning stage of what?”

“I told you, I’ll tell you tomorrow. It still needs some fine tuning.”

“Fine tuning? What is it with you and weird ideas?”

Prompto thought about that for a moment before smiling widely. “I can’t help it. I’m just naturally imaginative and I like to see my ideas come to life.”

“Imaginative huh? Well, you certainly are that.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”

“Hmm…I wonder.”

Prompto scowled slightly before leaning over and poking Noctis in the cheek.

“Hey!” Noctis growled as he opened his eyes to glare at her. “What was that for?”

“Hmm…I wonder.” Prompto said mockingly.

They both stared at each other in annoyance for a minute before breaking out into laughter. 

Prompto had her share of troubles in life…but this, moments like this…were worth every hardship she could think of.

“It was a compliment okay?” Noctis said once they’d finally settled down again.

She smiled over at him. “Yeah? Thanks then. I only use my powers for good after all.”

Nocti laughed lightly before closing his eyes again. “Only for good…”

“Yup.” Prompto confirmed as she too settled into her seat and closed her eyes. It was nice to just relax for a minute.

“Well, I look forward to hearing it then.”

“I look forward to telling it.” Prompto said happily. 

They settled into silence, but it was a comfortable one. It was nice.

Prompto couldn’t help but think that if all rainy days ended this way…maybe they weren’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I love to hear what people think of my stories so please feel free to leave a comment if you'd like.


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